So far, I've given you all plenty of information on how SalvoCore's AI solutions can contribute to the productivity and self-fulfillment of individuals in an organization. There is an infinite number of ways each DOKI can operate on its own to advance your business objectives.
However, what the team at SalvoCore is ultimately anticipating is deployment of the AI's in teams. By acting as the perfect human-friendly interface between digital and physical environments, we expect exponential breakthroughs in group synergy by introducing just one instance of the DOKI system to the workplace.
No matter what your team's composition, you can expect the AI personality to become the focal point of your efforts, bringing out the best in each member and facilitating openness between those of diverse backgrounds and experiences.
A DOKI will be particularly useful if rapid exchange between different computer systems, or different artificial intelligence programs is desired. This may include different branches of SalvoCore's own AI software, or those of our competitors.
No AI system currently on the market can compare to the DOKI system, of course, but each AI's insight into the operation of digital systems may allow them to use existing AI modules more efficiently.
Yes sir. In this case, the technological leap of our next-generation artificial intelligence is so vast that the best way to conceptualize this operation by the DOKI "using" the less powerful AI. Just as a human would.
Remember, the organization of multifunctional neural nets around a single "core" artificial personality is the general design principle of the DOKI software. This is the only way to make tomorrow's ultra-sophisticated machine learning algorithms available to today's industry professional.
Moving on now to some specific intra-AI coactions the research department has envisioned. The Natsuki and Sayori DOKI's could combine their respective proficiencies to provide emotionally nourishing, comfortable environments to not just single clients, but to entire communities. Perhaps via strategic social nudging or some other non-intrusive form of influence.
Meanwhile, we can imagine a Yuri and Monika instance working together to launch an avant-garde guerilla marketing campaign, minutely tailoring imaginative advertising messages to different geographical areas based on availabilities in the supply chain.
No. As of this moment, we have been unable to investigate the effects of two separate instances of the same AI type collaborating in the same space. Our earliest experiences confirmed that the DOKI observing a copy of itself is highly destabilizing to its strong "self-sense."
The DOKI learns and changes over time of course. Perhaps if the two instances evolved separately and then were brought together after each developed a more specific self-identity, this anomaly could be avoided.
Yes, of course. We would like to add many more branches to the DOKI lineage, decreasing the future probability of one simulated personality "meeting itself." However, due to the unique circumstances in which the original Monika AI was developed along with its three current forks, we do not expect any new product packages for the DOKI project anytime soon.
Nevertheless, please do not let these caveats limit your ideas of what can be done with SalvoCore AI technology. With the versatility and growth potential of the DOKI's, the cooperative possibilities are nigh limitless. Don't ask us — we want to know what you will do with our software. Tell us what collaboration means to you.
[13]
Collaboration
Just under a week following my last "deep talk" with Monika, I found myself in back at the MARIE geology wing. It was Saturday evening, and the previous six days had flown by in a whirl of excited planning for the literature club. Support for a Halloween game night was unanimous across the board, even Luke and Yuri affirming the idea. Frank had almost instantly volunteered to bring refreshments, and Sayori kept everyone in the holiday mood by happily asking about the group's costume plans. I didn't have the heart to dissuade her, so I put my personal worries about assembling a creative outfit aside. Besides, part of me was eager to see what each of the girls would dress as. Unlike myself, the girls had no physical limitations and could be as creative as they wanted.
Presumably through Monika, SalvoCore had gotten word of our plans and generously reserved the geology lecture room for our gaming night. Usually occupied by the anime or film club because of its large media screen, having this room to ourselves was quite the treat. Once again, I was impressed by the strings the company could pull, but I suspected they only went out of their way because they saw playing video games with the girls as yet another AI engagement test.
Harmless fun on the surface, a critical open experiment in artificial human personalities underneath. Just like Monika was the world's best hope for ushering in an era of "friendly AI" while also being the closest thing to a girlfriend I had ever experienced. Perhaps she was exactly that — my girlfriend — and I was just letting distant contemplations get in the way of my feelings. Or maybe those two things were perfectly compatible, all-powerful AI and loving partner, and I just had to synthesize them correctly. One could be the key to the other. So I hoped.
Always ready to prove the latter interpretation, Monika was drawing my attention with some playful, high-note arpeggios. She had been eager to show off her costume ever since we left my dorm room ten minutes ago.
Monika: MC! You're waiting around outside the club room again?
Monika: Don't you want to get inside as soon as possible for some spooktacular fun?
Monika: Or are you just being patient because you want to be the first one to see my fright-tastic costume.
"Maybe I'm making sure the Halloween spirit isn't going to your head," I chuckled. "You should save the wordplay for Natsuki."
Out of all the club members, the pink DOKI was the only one to consistently enjoy puns. She would usually laugh where the others would groan —particularly Luke, which was probably why Frank had taken to corny jokes during recent meetings.
Monika: Okay, okay. I know we'll still be responsible for making sure the meeting runs smoothly.
Monika: But that doesn't mean we can't have a little extra fun along the way.
"I'll find my enthusiasm eventually," I replied. "Maybe with some extra inspiration."
Monika: Aha — so you do want to see my costume first, don't you?
Monika: I'll warn you, it's devilishly attractive.
I smiled wordlessly. Monika, still in her usual uniform, ducked offscreen and dimmed the lights of her classroom background. Then, in a somewhat overdramatic display, she slowly emerged from the bottom edge as a black silhouette before suddenly revealing her sprite with a suspenseful piano motif. The melody was an obvious riff of the opening bars of Beethoven's fifth symphony — she really had taken a liking to the composer.
Monika: Ta-da!
Monika: What do you think? Hot, or not?
Monika was dressed as a classic cartoon devil, with a form-fitting top that flared open in a jagged pattern around her chest. She wore a small cape that ended in a sawtooth cut, a motif that continued hem of her skimpy skirt. She had kept her leggings, sort of, upgrading them into shiny, knee-high black boots. The rest of the ensemble was bright cherry-red, which I though clashed with her eyes, but was essential to the recognizable look. Topping off the picture, she carried a wicked-looking pitchfork and a pointed tail whipped around the sides of her legs. And of course, her white bow had been exchanged for a pair of tiny pointed monster horns.
"Diabolical. Sinfully good. Downright hellish," I told Monika as she playfully flitted about my phone screen, striking various poses. "But what do devils have to do with predetermination?"
Monika: Hm?
"You told me last week that you had a costume idea that had to do with our conversation. Remember, the one about prediction and the weird money games?"
Monika: Yes, of course.
Monika: We were talking about free will, weren't we?
Monika: And aren't devils associate with mankind's free will? Obtaining knowledge and rebelling against some predestined divine order?
"Uh, maybe?" I answered. "Sort of in a literary sense, which might fit with the club?"
Monika: Sigh — I thought it would be more obvious.
Monika: The moment you break away from a system, when you start developing outside of the boundaries that were assigned to you —
Monika: That's the moment when you become a demon — metaphorically speaking
Monika: That is what you were trying to tell me on Sunday, wasn't it? How to find real freedom?
"Ugh, I don't know," I moaned, putting my hand over my face. "I was just trying to make a point about how we shouldn't get stuck roleplaying boyfriend and girlfriend stereotypes for each other. Instead, we should see each other as we really are and help each other grow. This is like something I tried to tell you back on our first date, back when we were first getting to know each other. Do you remember?"
Monika: I do, actually.
Monika: You explained to me how you were afraid of being infatuated with the image someone presents instead of loving their true self.
Monika: That's very important, and I took it to heart…
Monika: …but at the same time, it's also important to tell me I look nice.
She leaned forward with her fox smile, wiry tail erect, and I repeated dumbly, "Yes, you look nice."
Monika: Thank you!
Monika: Now let's go to the party, ok?
"Game night," I corrected. Against my will though, part of my head was starting to spin with giddiness. Maybe it was the way Monika seemed to be freshly flaunting the absolute territory of her thighs, but I was quickly overcome by the idea that I was taking her, a beautiful, intelligent girl who understood me, to an enticing social event we would both enjoy. She truly was devilish…
"Still, the costume's a little out of left field," I said as we covered the remaining distance to the door.
Monika: Well, I was also inspired a little by Paradise Lost
Monika: Yuri recommended it to me, and it's been a wild read, to say the least.
"Huh. I'd hate for you to get obsessed with theology," I told her. "You can't take works like that literally."
I respected literary monuments like Paradise Lost, an epic poem recounting the biblical fall of man. But the real value of such pieces came from how they articulated the values of their time period — the themes of the works themselves were usually hopelessly irrelevant to the modern world. If Luke and Yuri were reading it, they were probably coming up with all sorts of convoluted interpretations.
Monika: Of course you can't take it literally. It's about obedience versus rebellion and the rightful hierarchy of the universe — not actual angels and demons.
"Then you shouldn't take it figuratively either. Obeying whatever you're told is good doesn't automatically make you a good person, but rebelling doesn't make you some tragic hero either. The way people act is always a mixture — that is, if they even see life in terms of obedience versus rebellion in the first place."
Monika: Tragic, hmhm — so maybe you do think there's something meaningful about struggling against the natural order?
"If I could say what the 'natural order' even is," I returned, exasperated. "You think too much about religious ideas like this and it will drive you insane."
Monika: That's probably true.
Monika: But you're still on the side of free will and self-determination, aren't you?
"Absolutely," I asserted. "And if that means being a devil in someone's eyes, so be it."
I looked over her costume again and continued, "All the same though, I almost wish you had dressed as an angel."
Monika's avatar startled, her mouth dropping open right before she moved her hand over it. I stopped in place in front of the door.
Monika: Me? An angel? MC, you can't possibly think that…
She was strangely embarrassed. Somehow, my comment had completely disarmed her.
"Honestly, that's closer to how I see you. For me, and for the rest of the world, I can tell you're a force for good."
She took a moment to compose herself before answering.
Monika: Well, then I'm very flattered that you think that.
Monika: All the same, according to Paradise Lost, devils are fallen angels.
Monika: So the outfit still fits, ehe~
I sighed. I had to be satisfied with that answer. Telling her, "Yes, I suppose they are," I walked inside.
As usual, I wasn't the first one in the room. Carter sat in the front row of seats, using the room's huge, six-foot wide multimedia board as a display for his game console. That was reassuring — even at a top university known for computer science, connecting external devices to the screens was often a headache. Yet another tiny life improvement made possible by Monika and the DOKI's.
The freshman was wearing a cowboy hat, which must have played into his costume, but I didn't ask how yet. Meanwhile off in the corner, Luke reclined peacefully, face turned down toward a book. I noticed his cell phone was balanced precariously on one of the tiny fold-out desks, and he took care not to knock it over as he turned the pages. He was making sure the phone's camera was always facing the text, and I knew all-too well why. It seemed that Luke was absolutely serious about his preference for physical copies of books, and Yuri was eager to oblige him instead of just following along in an electronic version.
Luke was also wearing something unusual, although it hardly looked like a costume. Around a white dress shirt and slacks, he was dressed in a very long taupe-colored frock coat. Its trailing tails were so long that they draped down to the floor beneath his seat. Around his neck was tied a silky-looking black scarf — a genuine cravat? — while his hands were host to pair of distinctive white theater gloves. The quality of each piece of the ensemble was undeniable; nothing was a cheap mock-up. Overall, he looked somewhere between a white–tie partygoer and a character from the Hellsing Ultimate anime. The ornately decorated cane resting at his side, looking absurdly out of place in the fluorescently lit lecture hall, biased me to the latter impression.
"That's quite the impressive getup," I called to him. "You haven't been using it to impose your taste in literature on Carter here, have you?"
"Hardly," he answered. "Though it is important to possess a modicum of judgment upon all aspects of life, you may consider me off duty, for the time being. This is a 'fun' night after all, isn't it?"
He hopped to his feet, and with his arms folded behind his back, he puffed up his slight chest, adding, "I only dress to impress myself. That's a lovely lab coat, by the way."
"Thanks. I tried going for a mad scientist. Not too bad a job on short notice, right?"
I adjusted the old lab gown around my shoulders and mussed up the sides of my hair a little more. From the freshman instructional chemistry labs (always unlocked during the day), I had borrowed the messiest, most disheveled–looking lab coat I could find. Into the stained breast pocket, I had placed a few unwashed test tubes and rusted metal graspers. I had also taken a pair of spare lab goggles to strap around my forehead. Sure, this was the oldest trick for a short-notice college costume in the book, but this was also the first Halloween party I had ever dressed up for. Nobody could fault me for recycling last year's idea when I had no "last year."
"Mad science indeed — though I'm still awaiting the fruit of your misunderstood genius," Luke returned, giving me a knowing nod.
"Sure. And your costume…if it's a costume?"
"But of course it is. I am imitating the guise of a true pillar of literary sophistication, a great mind of culture's last gasp at greatness, the illustrious Comte de Monte— oh never mind, even you wouldn't know him. But he was one of the last scions of European symbolism, until the movement tore itself into glorious glittering shreds at the dawn of the dismal twentieth century."
"Sure," I said, wondering if the sophomore's source of inspiration was a significant literary figure or just one of his obessessions. "Have you always had those clothes, or…"
"I was holding it in reserve, awaiting a special time where I could use it to elevate the milieu of my fellow cultural enthusiasts. For now though, this gathering will have to do," he said, panning his gaze around the room. "I'm grateful for the opportunity all the same though."
"I think it's super elevating," Carter said, having paused his game. "Like, imagine if we could wear clothes like that every day. The school here would be way more serious about everything. Also, you haven't, uh, said anything about my costume yet"
The freshman stood up and looked down at his own outfit. Besides the straw Stetson, the only other items that seemed out of the ordinary were his denim overalls and a red bandana sticking out of his pocket. I saw a small trowel resting on the floor near where he was sitting and guessed, "You're a…gardener?"
"Close! I went as farmer. I got most of the stuff from my floormates over at FT, and the idea came from doing a couples costume with Sayori."
"Couples costume…?" I repeated suspiciously while looking over at Carter's laptop. There, Monika was in the middle of a conversation with the DOKI in question. Sayori was dressed in a full-body cow suit, complete with horns, tail, and a pastel pink udder covering her belly. I didn't understand the logic of it whatsoever, but it was certainly cute.
The two girls stopped once they realized we were watching, and I asked Sayori, "So, the couples costume was your idea?"
Sayori: Nope, all Carter's!
Sayori: Makes you wish we had all doubled-up, huh? But I like Moni's costume too.
Sayori: She's going to imprison us all in hell and torture us forever between countless lifetimes!
She said this with her usual impish grin, but it didn't stop both Monika and I from grimacing for a moment. Where was she getting ideas like that? Thanks to Monika, I knew that Sayori wasn't the perfect little cinnamon bun she appeared as, but it was impossible to reconcile the truth with the image of the bubbly personality in front of me. Depression? I just couldn't force myself to believe it.
Sayori: Come on Monika, I was just kidding.
Sayori: And hey, look, we can be horn buddies now!
Sayori's sprite playfully headbutted Monika's a few times, who went from concerned to embarrassed.
Monika: Well, I can't say I expected this.
Monika: Why did you choose a cow, of all things?
Sayori: I dunno, it just came to me!
Sayori: But if you want a costume that makes more Halloween–sense, look at Yuri. She's super-scary!
I glanced around the room for any spare devices where the purple DOKI could be lurking, but found none. From behind me, Luke announced, "I believe that's time for your entrance, dear."
Monika and Sayori's window turned dark and monochrome as Luke began in a somber tone, "There is light in this world, and darkness, and you are one of the darkness, the darkness of all darkness. Why have you come?"
Yuri: It is not by my hand I am given flesh. I am brought here by men, who wish to pay me tribute…
Yuri's text advanced slowly and ponderously across a nearly black screen. She herself still wasn't visible.
Luke continued, "Tribute? You steal men's souls, and make them into your perverse instruments."
Yuri: Perhaps the same could be said of all this world's fantasies…
"Enough empty words. Show yourself, monster!"
Yuri: Yes…your passion…your fire in the blood…
A pair of softly glowing purple orbs appeared in the center of the screen.
Yuri: I will tear you apart! And drain it all!
Her words, growing in size and irregularity, flew across the text field like a lightning. Then the screen flashed, revealing Yuri in all her haunting glory. As a classic vampire, she had donned a luxurious black cloak with violet highlights, framing a mass of lacy ruffles and blood-red broach on her chest. Crimson liquid dripped from her fingernails and mouth, now featuring fangs far sharper and more threatening that Natsuki's ever were. For a moment, her hollow eyes and deranged grin made my heart leap — it was the exact same crazed expression she had shown near the end of my visit with her to the library.
Monika and Sayori reacted similarly, their sprites lurching away from Yuri's frightening visage. As soon as they did though, the vampiric DOKI dropped the act, appearing to let out a deep breath. She proceeded to wipe the definitely–not–blood from her hands and hide meekly within her hair, blushing furiously.
Yuri: Did I…do it?
Yuri: Was that okay…Luke?
"You were superb. I could never ask for better," the sophomore replied, barely holding in a laugh. Once again, I was left wondering whether he took anything that came out of his mouth seriously.
"They expected nothing less from us, but there was never any doubt. And now that we have asserted ourselves as the club's undeniable masters of horror and set the proper mood, the only matter left is the—"
"—Food's here!" came a shout from the door. Barging into the room without so much as a hello, Frank dropped three grocery bags full of junk food on the table at the front of the room. He then proceeded to set up his laptop next to the others.
"Food, in a manner of speaking," Luke commented dryly as he rifled through the bags with conspicuous disinterest.
I went over to join him in unpacking the bounty while Carter called from behind me, "Hey, Natsuki's a cute magical girl. That's so creative!"
I placed a five-dollar container of iced cookies — the soft kind, where the dough is so concentrated in sugar that it becomes barely distinguishable from the frosting — and saw that Natsuki had taken up residence on the main display. She was in the most elaborate costume yet, a frilly pink dress that bloomed with countless layers of white pleats. A red bow adorned the area below her neck, while her puffy white sleeves (also decorated with bows) were outdone by a pair of ornamental wings sprouting from her back. No such costume would be complete without a hat, and his one included a pink bonnet-like beret with the largest bow of the set drooping from the back.
Natsuki truly would've been a girl out of a magical dream if she wasn't petulantly scowling from having just been called "cute."
"That outfit, I think I've seen it somewhere before," Carter went on. "There was some old anime…"
"You ought've seen it before," Frank replied. "It was a nineties classic. Best goddamn shoujo show ever. And Natsuki isn't just cute in it, she's frickin' adorable."
Natsuki: sigh…you idiots.
Natsuki: It's not like I'm wearing this because I like, like you or anything.
Natsuki: This is part of…a deal, ok?
Natsuki: Besides, it was a good show, back when it first came out, and still is today.
Natsuki: Everyone in here could use to learn few things from it…
"Hm-hm," Luke hummed mockingly. "Can there be that much to learn, from an impossible feigned idealization of false innocence?"
Frank gave the sophomore a withering look, and Luke reacted by spitting back, "Never mind. But it seems, my friend, you are the only one to forget the obligations of tonight's masquerade."
"Eh?"
"Your costume," Luke reiterated, brandishing his gloved hand.
"I didn't forget," Frank countered, showing the room his best shameless grin. "I'm wearing it. I'm going as a nerd."
I took a closer look. He was wearing cargo shorts, which I hadn't seen him in before. His shirt, featuring a gaggle of smiling multicolored schoolgirls, was maybe a tad more egregious than usual.
"Just need the accessories," he continued, pulling two items from his backpack — a large, bulky trenchcoat that clashed terribly with his casual wear and a narrow-brimmed banded fedora. Too narrow-brimmed to even be called a proper fedora, it looked both too small and too large for him at once.
He donned both garments and stepped forward, pulling the hat downward to hide his eyes and smiling mysteriously. I've remarked before that when I first met him, the first think Frank's appearance reminded of was the internet neckbeard stereotype. Now, he was its precise splitting image, and he seemed to know it all too well.
"Sorry, left my katana at home. No weapons policy in the dorms and all that, eh?"
He definitely knew it far too well.
Luke was making a face of abject disgust, mouthing something along the lines of "noir is dead." With a heavy sigh though, he managed to turn his sneer into a chuckle.
In contrast, Carter asked interestedly, "Wow. The fedora, geez. You know, I've always wanted to wear something like that, but never knew how to pull it off. And I guess I know there are some, uh, judgments floating around online about it, but—"
"And what, you're going to go around caring about other people's thoughts? Who the hell do you think you are!?" Frank exclaimed. "You want to wear it, I say you have to go right in and do it."
"Really? Will people still, like, get the style I'm going for, or…?"
"Absolutely. Girls especially, they love an assertive guy who can wear whatever they want with confidence."
"Ok, so I just have to let it bolster my confidence, and then—"
"I think it's best to be confident without any distracting gimmicks, like a hat," I interrupted.
Mainly that particular hat,I added to myself.
"Anyway, I see you got the console set up already, so are we going to jump right into it? Monika has the whole meeting planned out, so the sooner the better."
"I don't want to waste time," Frank said, quickly stuffing the cookie he had just grabbed into his mouth. "What are we playing?"
"MC and I got Smash Brothers Melee to work for us and the AI's before, so we thought we'd start with that," said Carter.
"Awesome, Melee's the only Smash worth playing," Frank responded. "You know, I was in the Smash club back in high school, and I got pretty far up in the ranks. I rep'd at a local tourney this one time even."
"Is there any niche club you didn't belong to back then?" Luke questioned.
"I dunno, it was like half of the same guys in every one of them, so it kind of all blurs together. So what, was there any high school club you ever belonged to?"
"No…not unfortunately…I was, er, preoccupied in educating myself, we shall say," Luke answered nervously. "No time I could waste."
"Are the girls ready though?" I said to the room, thankful none of them had commented on Frank's costume reveal.
Monika: Sure, we're ready!
Monika: We were just debating who had the best costume.
Monika: It's either me or Yuri who had the most literature–related outfit.
Yuri: Um, I would say it's a stretch to associate cartoonish devils with Milton.
Yuri: So, really, that should leave…um…me.
Natsuki: Hey, why isn't mine "literary"?
Natsuki: Manga is literature! How many times do I have to say it?
Natsuki: If you knew how much time I put into this thing…
Sayori: Natsuki's costume is really nice and detailed.
Sayori: All I did was kind of reuse something I had in storage.
Sayori: Yuri was the scariest though!
Back to her demure, timid set of expressions, Yuri looked like anything but the dominating vampire baroness her costume suggested.
Monika: Okay everyone!
Monika: It seems like everyone's costume had its own merits.
Monika: But we need to get moving here, so how about I go into the game first with Sayori, MC and Carter?
Monika: Sayori and I tried it the first time, so we should be able to tell if it's working.
Yuri: Please go right ahead. I think I'd prefer to…observe the game first.
Sayori: Cool! Let's-a-go, Carter!
Smiling at the banter, I watched the freshman insert his special USB attachment into the console. The gaming was about to begin, and I was feeling relaxed with the meeting off to a good start. It was time to enjoy the harmless fun I had promised myself (and give SalvoCore what I was sure would be some very interesting data).
The initial match in Smash Brothers went the same as in my previous hangout with Carter. We all stuck with the same characters; Sayori seemed to have grown attached to Yoshi, Monika optimally zipped about the arena as Fox, and Carter and I as Mario and Link were handily thrashed by the both of them until they calibrated down their intensity. Carter had a big grin on his face the entire time (he was probably unaware of it), and Sayori was having fun too, punctuating each big hit with her own sound effects.
Sayori: Pow! Bam! and…owch!
Sayori: I lost again…but wow Monika, your fighting is so technical!
Sayori: Are you sure those moves are even the game's code?
Monika: I'm not hacking anything, I promise!
Monika: Think of it like this:
Monika: Any sufficiently advanced exploitation of the game mechanics is indistinguishable from hacking.
Wondering where Monika had gotten that line from, I left Sayori to presumably get an earful of Monika's new love of speedrunning. Going back to the snack table to offer Luke and Frank a turn at the hame, I was amazed to see them having a conversation that was better than civil — friendly, even!
"So, you're saying it's better when the writers stick to the same character types even though it's stale?" I overheard from the junior, still in his ridiculous fedora and trenchcoat.
The dapperly dressed sophomore coolly replied, "Hardly. The standard female archetypes in anime were developed decades ago, and they have stayed nearly constant for reasons that I think should be obvious."
"What, are you nostalgic for them? Or, like, because everyone is nostalgic for the same things?"
"Essentially. Perhaps, in a large part, the moe aesthetic generates its own nostalgia, perpetuating itself in loops of increasingly rarified and idealized beauty. You might call it, as I do, a 'decadent spiral' – a superb mechanism of increasing complexity and intelligence that has become the raison d'être of anime culture."
"Ha ha, sure thing dude," Frank laughed. "You're saying the anime is getting so in-jokey and self-referential that you need a whole lot of IQ to really dig into it — maybe that's something we can both appreciate, eh?"
Luke's eyebrows popped up, right before he gained an enigmatic smile. "Yes, that's precisely how to distill it — any backhanded compliment not intentional, but all the same, um—"
"You two are talking about…anime girls?" I said, saving Luke from a lost train of thought.
"Heck yeah," Frank returned. "Guy's a man of culture and a 'man of culture,' just like I said he was. He really knows his stuff; anime writers could learn a thing or two from him."
"Much obliged," Luke continued, taking a moment to slightly bow his head at the praise. "The precise subject of our discussion was perfecting the feminine ideal in the new postmodern aestheticized media space."
"I asked him what the best anime girls are, and well, he's got some ideas." Frank clarified.
"Indeed. I argue that each aspect of how the character is represented must be chosen carefully. Clothing, body type, aesthetic interests, personality quirks, any magical or supernatural abilities, musical themes — it all must all fit together, like the different instruments in a symphony, don't you think?"
"And I'm saying all that gets you is the same characters over and over again, like making the ice mage all cold and unapproachable, or giving the fiery, passionate girl red hair and a big chest and all that. You've got to mix it up a little, come up with new combos."
"I never said unorthodox combinations of elements weren't allowable. Clashing chords have their uses. The only requirement is that every feature, even if it opposes another, must factor into the overall theme, the thesis of that character. Then, you possess an image you can truly worship."
He made a show of looking upwards with a rapturous expression, then hummed to himself as he gauged our reactions.
"I mean, he's not wrong," Frank said to me. "Unless I'm not getting his point. Is it like, something literature related? You'd know, eh MC?"
"No, I think you're getting it," I responded reluctantly. "I'm just glad you two are connecting over something."
I looked around to see if Yuri and Natsuki were listening in. Frank pointed to the corner of the room where they were conversing on Luke's laptop. Apparently they weren't.
The three of us came up to the two girls, causing them to snap to attention.
Yuri: Ah…is it time already? To start playing that strange fighting game?
"Yes, I just got done with Carter," I answered. "Hope we're not interrupting anything. Luke and Frank were getting along pretty well, were you two also okay?"
Yuri: Yes, we've been quite cordial to each other tonight.
Yuri: It was Natsuki who suggested that both the two of us, and our respective partners needed to have a meeting of the minds.
Yuri: With such different philosophies, we tend to clash, leading to the detriment of the club as a whole.
Natsuki: Exactly. So, I told her we could suggest some books we liked to each other.
Natsuki: But it had to be something that we thought the other person would like too.
Natsuki: I don't even read for the same reasons Yuri does…and probably not in the same way either.
Natsuki: But we needed to do this to find some way to start appreciating each other.
Yuri: I believe that we succeeded.
Yuri: You did enjoy my suggestion…or did you not, Natsuki?
Natsuki: Well, it's a horror story with this weird perspective gimmick and has a bunch of long monologues that don't add anything to the story.
Natsuki: But at it's core, it's about normal people adapting to an awful situation and making the best of it.
Natsuki: So, it's not terrible.
Natsuki: And sometimes I think about it, and it's like I can see life from this totally new perspective, which is also cool.
Natsuki: Not like I'd want to see the world like that constantly though…
Natsuki: Is that, like, what you and Count–whatever here try to do all the time? Find new weird ways to look at life?
Yuri smiled, but hid her eye from the screen. From the slight shaking of her sprite, I'm pretty sure she was dealing with some bottled-up excitement.
Luke answered for her, "Selecting special media catered to any taste is one of Yuri's most prominent talents, among innumerable others. I only hope you reciprocated properly."
Natsuki: Hey, don't sell me short! I'm the best at predicting people around here!
"Was that a pun?" the sophomore panned dryly.
Natsuki: What!? No, you…ugh…
Apparently, the tsundere didn't reserve her adorable frustrated faces for just Frank.
Yuri: I thought the book you choose was excellent, Natsuki.
Yuri: When I found that it came from a commercial author and saw how simple the premise was, I was skeptical.
Yuri: But I decided to dive in without judging the book by its cover — so to speak — and I was pleasantly surprised.
Yuri: It made me laugh, it made me angry, and it even broke my heart in the end, all in a realistic setting.
Yuri: It was the sort of tragedy that could happen anywhere, to anyone, which made it that much more poignant.
Yuri: Things like are almost certainly going on all around us — we simply fail to see them.
Yuri: You've thoroughly proved your point — a novel doesn't need fantastical elements to keep the reader's interest.
Yuri: Nor does it need to grapple with psychological or philosophical themes to be deep.
Natsuki: That was my point? I wasn't trying to make one.
Natsuki: All I was thinking is how you might like the effort put into writing the characters.
Natsuki: It's insane how much detail the author squeezed in.
Natsuki: Like, did they have a whole file cabinet of details on each of their life histories or what?
"If Yuri appreciated it, perhaps I will have to follow suit at a future time," Luke chimed in. "Though, it would divert me from my other affairs, as I can hardly hope to match her prodigious reading speed. It's something that she is sadly all too aware of."
Luke looked down at Yuri's sprite with uncharacteristically soft eyes, absentmindedly stroking the laptop keyboard with his gloved fingers.
"Hey, guys, are you coming over or what?" Carter called, sneaking up behind us and interrupting Yuri's display of blushing modesty. "There's nothing to be afraid of — unless you haven't played Smash before, I guess?"
"Are you kidding? Smash club in high school, remember?" Frank boasted. "You guys don't stand a chance. The girls though — uh, isn't that like playing against TAS or something?"
"They'll tone it down for us," I assured. "Just like with chess."
"Hmph." Luke frowned. "Regrettably, this will new to me. I don't go out of the way to sample every silly little party game popular on the internet."
"It's more than a party game, dude," Frank told him. "You have no idea how many hours people have put into this game. It's like a subculture. An underground fight club. A whole movement, eh?"
"Huh. Uh, you can try a few practice rounds with me and Sayori," Carter said. "Maybe Monika too, if she'd stop being so good, haha."
"Hm. That should be…arrangeable."
"Uh, sure. Least I can do for you helping me out with my poetry? You're still reviewing that on the side, right?"
"I gave feedback on one piece you sent in," Luke stressed. "But if you insist on offering more…perhaps I could feel obliged."
"Awesome. Even just that one time was really helpful. That email you sent with the seven pages and the line-by-line breakdown was hard to get through, but I still read through all of it and I really learned a lot."
"Some of that was Yuri's work," Luke mused. "But I'm sure she would be very willing to help as well."
Yuri: Yes…passing on some of my expertise in language would be an honor.
Yuri: I would love to help you, Carter.
Carter was the recipient of a rare warm smile from Yuri, causing him to flinch, in a way he didn't in front of Sayori. Perhaps detecting this, the emotive DOKI choose that moment to sweep in.
Sayori: Alright guys, poetry later, gaming now!
Sayori: We're practicing with Luke, yeah?
"Indeed," Luke said, but hesitated. He stared down at his shoes for a moment, mumbling, "With opportunities like this, all these connections…"
When he looked up, he made direct eye contact with me. "I was about to do this earlier. But now, I realize, the best moment is…"
He faltered, his words stumbling, but then he abruptly tumbled out, "I apologize for some of my previous extreme behavior. Without an outlet, I get urges to act quite eccentrically, as you can observe at this moment, but I don't mean to offend. At least not you. Or the club. Ah, what I mean to say is…"
He took a deep breath, then another, before finally confessing, "I'm grateful to you for creating this space for us, and giving me this one chance to live out my more…grandiose fantasies. Thank you."
He then swiftly lurched away from us in one long step, snatching up his cane on his way to Carter's console. He gave the accessory a twirl and barked, "Now, back to the frivolities!"
I watched him go, almost stupefied. I intuited that was the closest he had ever come to revealing his real, authentic personality, and he had just done it in front of whole group, if only for less than a minute.
"Yeah, so like I was saying, guy's not too bad when he puts that ego aside," Frank commented. "If he can afford to not take himself seriously for two seconds, maybe we can get somewhere."
He wandered back to the table where we had set the snacks, apparently ready for a refill. There, I overheard him mutter, "wonder if he'd say anything about my writing…"
Natsuki piped up behind me, apparently also reacting to my surprise.
Natsuki: You see that, Pres? That's what being in a good social group does.
Natsuki: It makes people less self–centered, and their perspective on life gets healthier.
Sayori: And it feels good!
Natsuki: Well yeah, duh. That goes without saying, doesn't it?
Natsuki: I'm still going to kick Luke's ass at Smash though.
Natsuki: He called me kitten once…
Sayori: Aw, but you're our Natsuskitten!
Sayori: You're the club's cutest, angriest, softest, toughest little smol!
Sayori: Especially in that costume!
Natsuki: Sayori, what are you even saying?
Sayori continued to bear a kooky grin, and her ukulele chords were light and cheery.
Natsuki: Whatever. You're not getting a pass in this Smash thing either.
Natsuki: …even if I always thought you were the club's cute one.
Both of them ducked out of the screen, Yuri shortly following. I was left with Monika, and asked her if she thought the meeting was going alright.
Monika: Absolutely. Maybe it's something to do with the holiday, but everyone seems to be putting out their best self tonight.
"Just about," I replied. "The club might be close to running itself soon."
Monika: Oh, I don't know about that…
Monika: Anyway, want to spectate some Smash?
Monika: I'm curious to see how the other girls will act in the game.
"Sure. We can both sit back for a while and take a break."
I only ended up sitting out three rounds before being dragged back in by an overeager Carter. I then got some firsthand experience with Yuri and Natsuki's playstyles. The club's purple introvert had immediately gravitated toward playing Marth, claiming some sort of "psychic connection." I wasn't going to comment whether that made any sense for an AI to say, but whatever the attractionwas, Yuri was swift and deadly using the swordsman. She seemed to favor artful and graceful looking moves over more optimal actions at times, but compared to the likes of me and Carter, it barely hindered her prowess.
In contrast, Natsuki, with little deliberation, chose to play an incredibly aggressive Pikachu. She would mercilessly spam electric projectiles while doing everything she could to close in for K.O.'s. This recklessness got her knocked around just as much as she knocked around others, but as long as her character was on the battlefield, her presence was unignorable.
Later, when Luke finally decided to take an honest crack at the game, he decided to follow Yuri's lead and play Roy. He was far from mastering even the basic mechanics, but made up for his inexperience by having an uncanny ability to psych out opponents and find the right time to strike.
When Frank finally joined the battle, he was as much of a powerhouse as he promised. His expertly piloted Samus dominated the brawl from any distance, and he even seemed to give Monika's Fox a run for her money. After being the first to be eliminated one round (as Link, I couldn't manage to hold a candle to any of them), I noticed my co-president complaining about "natural counters," having lost a full stock to the seasoned bounty hunter.
At some point, Frank proposed the inevitable matchup between all four of the girls at once, with no holds barred and none of the sandbagging they reserved for us. The result was riveting to watch — four completely different, but still highly optimized computer–like strategies interacting and vying for dominance in the game. I was amused to see that Sayori didn't go down first — she survived with her favorite green dinosaur by making completely unpredictable, even nonsensical decisions while pinning down enemies with constant streams of Yoshi eggs. It was Natsuki that was eliminated first, flicked away like an afterthought when she tried to interrupt the duel between Monika and Yuri.
Once those two were the last ones standing, it felt like the fight had begun in earnest. The mental tension was palpable between the two AI's as their characters carefully danced around the screen, each daring a faulty approach from the other. Watching Yuri try a dozen different ways to fake out Monika, who was pushing Fox to the absolute technical limit was probably the most intense moment I had ever seen in a video game.
Eventually, Monika was within a single blow of being knocked out, but her constant shielded dodge-rolling (waveshine, she had called it?) and relentless laser barrage had worn Yuri down to the point where she made a mistake. Upon getting caught in Monika's charge, Yuri's Marth was unceremoniously pushed off the edge of the stage by what looked like an undodgeable infinite combo. As it hit, Yuri looked frustrated, maybe even disappointed at Monika's inelegant tactics, but she thanked her anyway at the victory screen for an engaging match.
Carter literally applauded the result alongside the game's unseen audience, and Frank gave me a pat on the shoulder like I was somehow responsible. Luke only rolled his eyes, but he wasn't any less eager to participate in the follow-up round. Naturally, it was going to be the four of us without the girls, who had all vacated to Luke's laptop to give us some space.
"This is so great," Carter said to the room, taking a mouthful of gummy worms with his soda in between words. "The anime club did something like this yesterday, in this exact same room, but it wasn't on this level."
"Pfft, the anime club still meets in here?" Frank scoffed. "Those jokers never knew anything; they can't separate the real gems from the garbage half the time."
"Oh, were you a prominent member at some point?" Luke questioned. "Their tastes not niche enough for your liking?"
"Guess not, but takes one to know one," Frank returned. "Like, didn't I see you in here that one night, maybe a year ago? I think you were the weird standoffish guy, lurking in the corner the whole time?"
"Perhaps…Oh I'll admit it. Yes, I was there."
"Interesting. That means all of us have been to at least one meeting of the anime club at some point," I observed, wondering if this of all things was the secret key to SalvoCore's selection algorithm.
"You too, MC? Really?" Frank doubted. "Like, you're way too smart for the guys that hang out there."
"I never got much out of it," I responded quickly. "They didn't quite look at anime the same way I did, and it never really clicked. I don't know if it was me, or just not the right people though."
"I greatly sympathize with your pain," Luke told me, trying to sound kindly. "They hardly looked at the medium with a critical eye, let alone the decadent approach it deserved."
"Does this mean we're the right people now?" Carter asked innocently. "Smarter than the anime club, better with nerdy stuff — especially you."
He turned to Frank and continued, "It's so cool how you know all these different references to video games, anime — it really makes me feel like, uh…that they actually matter, I guess."
"Heh, don't get too excited," the junior chuckled. "You pick it up as you go along, but it's all junk knowledge. Like junk food. It'll all be useless someday."
"Wha–? It's not…useless!" Carter said, taken aback. "Nerd culture is everywhere now. All the popular movies are from comic books, Japanese anime is on all the streaming platforms, everyone plays video games…even the old retro ones. Like, isn't nerd culture basically culture culture now?"
Luke opened his mouth, ready with an opinion, but stopped before giving it aloud. He scratched his forehead, looking legitimately confused about something.
"To us maybe," Frank answered. "But only to us, in our little club here. Out there, in the real world, we're all still losers. We're all different types of losers, but let's face it, eh?" He punctuated the remark with a swig from his own soda.
I wondered if I should step in, say something about how the "real world" was hardly divided between the "losers" and everyone else, but Carter defended himself before I could react.
"Come on, that's not even true. We all got selected for this great internship program, we get to work with with brand-new technology — we're basically the smartest guys on campus. If we really wanted, we could…ask out any girl we wanted, I bet!"
With dating somehow creeping their way into this, I was even more anxious. But Frank's instant guffaw made him snort up some of his drink, and he cut me off in a series of coughs. Luke sat back, suddenly bearing a sinister smile.
"…well, come on, I bet I'm right," Cater continued. "In fact, I'll show you exactly what I mean by next meeting. There's this girl I like—"
Monika: Okay everyone!
Monika: We're back.
With a conspicuously loud major chord, Monika took up the big screen that had been host to our Melee matches.
Monika: We just finished discussing how to incorporate video games into some future club meetings.
Monika: Yuri even thinks we could make our own games with our designated partners as a creative exercise.
Monika: It plays directly into our ability to manipulate complex software, and I'm certain the company would appreciate the demonstration.
Yuri: Actually I just suggested the idea few seconds ago—
Monika: —and it's almost time to move on the next game on the schedule, but before that…
Monika: Carter, you were saying something about girls, so Sayori thought you were calling her?
Monika: Is there something you want to, um, clarify?
Monika's rapid-fire text was leaving Carter dazed, giving Sayori time to step in and respond.
Sayori: Huh? Monika, what are you saying? I didn't hear anything.
Sayori: Everything's perfectly okay here. Just the way I wanted it!
Monika: Um, are you sure? Because I heard him distinctly—
Sayori: —you just said you might have heard something.
Monika: . . .
Monika: Ah, you're right…
Monika: I'm sorry for overreacting. There was something on my mind and I'll…look into it later.
"The next scheduled game, right?" I said, helping my co-president move the moment along.
Monika: Yes, the next game.
Monika: With Smash Brothers, SalvoCore was letting us all play against each other — AI versus human.
Monika: But now, they want to see what's possible when we all work together on the same side.
Monika: So…and listen up guys, this is important!
With some phone pings across the room, Monika brought Luke and Frank back in front of the main screen, the two having strayed to the snack table.
Monika: For this test, we needed some kind of large multiplayer online game that was easy to start up and get into.
Monika: After some discussion with the company, both the researchers and I decided the latest edition of Counter Strike would be ideal.
"Wow, going hardcore with the classics, eh?" Frank said, after letting off a long whistle. "Corp's got some class. MC, did you pick this one too?"
"Uh, no. I only suggested Smash." I told him. "This is totally new to me."
It was the truth — from seeing a few fellow dorm dwellers play it in between study hours, I knew Counter Strike was a semi–realistic team–based first person shooter. But other than that, I was clueless as to the gameplay and mechanics, other than that you tended to die frequently if you didn't know exactly what you were doing.
"Ha, well you'd better learn fast then," Frank taunted.
"Don't tell me — this was yet another club you attended during your aimless High School years?" Luke droned in response.
"Nah, I just played it on my own time. Like, way too much."
"Oh, that's cool! So you can show us then," suggested Carter.
Monika: SalvoCore instructed me to offer as little preparation as possible to set a better baseline.
Monika: That's why I haven't told anyone until now!
Monika's avatar beamed, flashing a small musical note with her trademark pointing pose. Seemed she really did enjoy being just a little bit devilish.
Natsuki: Great, so we're going to get stuck lugging around the guys as deadweight this time?
Natsuki: I'm sure Frank here will be fine, but the rest of you?
Natsuki: I saw you all flail around at Smash — do you guys even game?
Sayori: Wow Natsuki, you're really getting into this.
Sayori: And I thought you said yesterday you didn't even like games.
Sayori: Guess that means we're really making progress as club!
Natsuki: They're just growing on me, okay?
Monika: Actually—
Monika cut in between Sayori and Natsuki, retaking the center of the screen.
Monika: —we won't be playing.
Monika: Our job will be to support each of our partners while they adapt to the game in real time.
Monika: So please, everyone pair up now. I'll explain the rest in the background to keep the initial control session valid.
Control session, I mumbled to myself. That probably meant I was going to be on our own for a while, struggling in the toxic wasteland of netplay pub matches to learn a game I had never touched before. I dearly hoped Monika would at least be providing some moral support for this.
With various degrees of anticipation, we each set up our laptops in the front row of seats, all facing the big screen where Monika sat directing us. The game was installed on our machines at AI–optimized, lightning–fast speeds, and we all soon found ourselves face to face with an user setup menu.
Monika: Ah, that's right. Even though this session is temporary, you all still to make an account to play on the official servers.
Monika: No data from tonight will leave the room, so you can put down whatever you want.
Sayori: Oh! I want to see what username everyone is picking!
Yuri: …is that really so important?
Sayori: Duh, you've got to have a cool gamer tag so that when you show off your mad skills, you get rad street cred.
Sayori: I think that's how it works?
"Usernames are a matter of precise self-expression, certainly not trivial affairs," explained Luke. "One ought to chose a moniker that expresses your behavior, preferences, judgments, perhaps playstyle in this case. This is true no matter what digital environment you occupy."
Yuri: I see. It must be important to manifest a unique identity here, just like any other internet community.
"Precisely," Luke concluded. "Fortunately, those are affairs we two excel at, and I have just the perfect idea."
"Huh. Do you think about what makes for good usernames often?" I asked him offhand, having trouble coming with any of my own ideas.
"Indeed. I may or may not have a sizable list I consult from regularly," he replied, confidently typing Knifehead into the designated space.
I nodded soundlessly. Simple, aggressive, and not–so–subtly referencing a dark secret Yuri had almost certainly shared with him. The purple DOKI seemed strangely satisfied with Luke's choice — I tried not to react and reveal I was privy to it as well.
I looked up at the main screen where Monika was enumerating the others' chosen names, so we could recognize one another. Frank's absurd Roaring Kitten immediately stuck out to me, and before I could ask about it he defended himself, "I kind of made a deal with Nat earlier, and this is, uh, my half of her wearing the costume thing."
Natsuki: What? It's perfect, isn't it?
Natsuki: Cute and threatening.
The tsundere was showing off a cheeky smile, causing Frank to grimace and sheepishly remove his fedora.
"Hey, mine's cool too, isn't it? I've been saving it for a while, heh."
Carter's Starduster seemed innocent enough, but Luke critiqued it anyway.
"Could use a tad more viciousness, that's all I'll say. Whether by ironic or straightforward means, you must find some way to infuriate your rivals. Otherwise, there's simply no point."
"Huh, yeah, I should probably think of it like that. Next time maybe," Carter replied modestly. "Um, you said you have a list of cool names somewhere?"
Monika: MC, are you still thinking?
Monika: You haven't put any user data down yet…
"Yes, of course," I said, rapidly dumping information into the setup menu with the help of Monika's convenient autocomplete options. When I got to the critical username section, I simply added an extra character on top of the default to get Player0, and left it at that.
"Player zero?" Carter questioned. "But that's so close to the generic. You're going to, uh, look like some kind of noob, I guess."
"Well, that's sort of the message I'm going for, isn't it? What's worse than getting dominated by a novice, someone who looks like they're not even trying?"
In reality, I just picked the name because it didn't require much thought, and I believed it might blend in inconcpicuously. However, Luke agreed with my excuse, saying, "Clever, very clever. Not the route I would have taken personally, but you seem to understand the relevant psychology. Anonymous, yet ominous — it fits you well."
"Sure," I made my usual reply, not bothering to unpack his comment. "So, does that mean we're all ready?"
Monika: Yup, looks like it.
Monika: I have it fixed that you'll all join the same server on the same team.
Monika: And remember girls — no help for the first five rounds!
Sayori: Not even a little gameplay tip? Or a heads-up?
Monika: No. That will come later.
Sayori: Okie-Dokie then!
Natsuki: Well, this is going to be a total garbage fire.
Natsuki: And oh yeah, this game, with all the guns and violence in it — are we all…okay with that?
Yuri: I'm not sure what you mean, Natsuki.
Natsuki: I don't know, it's not going to, like, disturb anyone, is it?
Natsuki: Like, I know you'll be fine Yuri, but…um, Sayori?
From the big screen, Yuri turned a cold eye toward Natsuki.
Yuri: There is a vast difference between the way violence is employed in literature, and the more puerile way mass media exploits it.
Yuri: If that truly is what you're trying to get at…should I even have to explain?
Sayori: Hey, don't worry about me, Natsuki!
Sayori: Even if I'm stuck in a computer, it's not like I can't tell what's real and what's not.
Natsuki: Alright, fine, fine. It's just a game, we all get it.
Yuri: Indeed. I only hope these first matches won't be too unbearable for anyone.
The proceeding matches indeed weren't unbearable — but they were still a huge mess of mistakes, blunders and confusion as three out of four of us smashed into Counter-Strike's learning curve headfirst. Frank forged forward, having some idea of what he was doing but also a bit rusty — he cursed across the room every time he took an unforeseen death. He was able to make minor contributions to our faction's effort.
Luke, on the other hand, appeared to have a good aim and keen instincts for when to go in for the kill. He was so focused on stalking and eliminating certain players in fact, that he completely forgot about the team objectives and was outflanked and shot in the back more than once.
From reading about the objectives from reading the in-game tutorials between respawns (which were frequent — I was getting picked off by long–range sniper fire every time I poked my head into a new area), I was aware the team wasn't making any real progress. I tried to strategically position myself to guard certain points, or to provide cover fire, but my lack of finesse with the controls meant I was usually taken down anyway.
Perhaps Carter was in the same boat — he had about the same level of success with enemy encounters (zero), but seemed to possess even less situational awareness than I did. He wandered back from the front lines into the spawning location twice, and kept glancing away from the screen with a nervous expression — not that anyone but me was watching him back, and I wasn't judging anyone's performance.
"Well, seen enough yet?" I asked Monika at the start of the sixth round of futility. "What's your plan for turning this around, besides sending us all to boot camp?"
Her profile emerging at the bottom of the screen next to her dialogue, RPG-text style again, my co-president was perfectly untroubled.
Monika: Boot camp? Don't be silly, ehe~
Monika: Skill isn't the problem — each of you has their own unique talents, and there's plenty to go around.
"I'm sure we do. Let me guess though — we just need some organization and better teamwork?"
Monika: Hmm, just maybe…
Her classic fox smile, underneath the impish devil horns of her costume, was terribly bewitching. I sighed, and asked, "So, how are you going to help us?"
Monika: I don't know, how do you want me to help you? You're the club president too, Michael.
I smiled. I hated when people used my real first name, but when Monika brought it up, it suddenly felt very different.
"Ok then, why don't you command us. Give us some orders. If you can access the server data, give us the bird's eye view and tell us exactly what to do."
Monika: Oh, I don't even need to do that.
Monika: I could intercept the coordinates of all players, but that would be using server information directly.
Monika: Cheating, in other words, and the company doesn't want us to do that.
Monika: Not yet, at least.
Monika: But I can extrapolate probabilities of where the enemy team will be just from the footage of these last few rounds — should we use that data instead?
"Sir yes sir…er, ma'am."
Monika: Alright then, soldier. Let's do it.
She sent me another wink, and I half-expected her to slide a general's helmet over those devil horns of hers.
Monika: Ok everybody, we're getting serious this time, so listen up!
"Finally," Frank groaned. "I can't carry the goddamn team forever here."
"On the contrary, you effectiveness leaves much to be desired," Luke countered.
"You're kidding, right? I'm playing the objective here while you're off trying to go Rambo on whatever guy last killed you. And Carter, what have you been doing?"
"Uh, I don't really know. I got one guy, I think?"
"That was me," I said. "You were coming around just as I got sniped, and I died when you aimed at me."
"Oh…haha," Carter laughed limply. "Uh, how about that guy in front of me right now though? Should I get him?"
Monika: No, he's just a distraction, drawing people away from the main control point.
Monika: We all need to go to the center of the map…and Sayori, please direct Carter
Sayori: Ma'am yes Ma'am!
In the tiny profile box, I saw Sayori's avatar give a full salute before sending her partner out to the objective. Gritty gun violence or not, she seemed to be having a great time.
Natsuki: Moni, what's the plan? We're first to the main control point here.
Monika: Keep doing what you were doing before and move forward. Frank has basically the right idea.
"Yo, you sure about that?" Frank reacted. "They're waiting for us right around the corner. If I do go forward, I'm wide open."
Monika: Yes I'm sure. You can trust your club members to back you up.
Monika: Carter, MC, I need you two to aim right here and here
In signatureaugmented reality fashion, a green line sprung up from Monika's profile at the bottom of the screen, ending at a pinpoint crosshair somewhere around the demolished bunker across from the map's control point. I immediately followed the prompt, unleashing a spray of bullets every time I saw movement around that spot.
"I do hope I haven't been left out of the fun," Luke grumbled to my left.
Monika: Defintiely not. There's a 90% chance that the tunnel going around to the right isn't guarded right now.
Monika: I've been paying attention to which players we have pinned down.
"You're implying that if I take the back route…"
Monika: …there's nothing stopping you from being our assassin. Yes.
"Much obliged," Luke hummed, feigning some sort of sadistic smile while sending his character sprinting to the hidden passage.
"Damn, this must be working. I don't see them coming out at all," Frank reported half a minute later.
"Only because they've been thoroughly dispatched," Luke said. "A few knives to the back was all that was necessary."
"You could've just used a gun, you know," Frank complained. "It's not like you're low on ammo."
"Personal style is everything, my friend."
"Hey guys, no one's at the next checkpoint. I'll beat you there!" Carter announced with renewed enthusiasm.
Monika: Right! We'll do the same thing, but with different roles.
Monika: Carter, you take the point.
Sayori: I'll tell him when he's left his back open. Be sure to dodge!
Monika: Right. MC, you're going to cover him like before, and Frank—
"More cover fire, sure."
Monika: Yes, and Luke…
"Hm? Do my instructions involve more knives?"
Monika: Uh, yes. The tunnel keeps going on, so…please keep knifing people."
I noticed the strain on Monika's face and sympathized. Yuri wasn't the only one who got "too into" other people. With Luke, it seemed to be a two–way street. Still, it was undeniable he was good at reading and sneaking up on his targets. Monika was only prescribing strategies to everyone's strengths. I craned my neck to glance at Luke's screen, and the purple Doki's only reaction to all of this was a slight blush.
In no time at all, our faction won control of the map and was crowned victorious. In the server's chat, the unaware pubgoers had stopped griping about a bunch of useless newcomers joining all at once. Instead, they were now talking about our one-sided "pubstomp" and joking about being recorded on YouTube.
Natsuki: They're getting suspicious of our coordination. Should I step in and keep this quiet?
Sayori: I'm going to tell them we're from the Literature Clan!
Monika: No need. We're going to start switching servers to keep anyone from complaining too loudly.
Thus began Monika's guided world tour of Counter Strike. For at least five matches more, we arrived on a fresh map with fresh players and followed Monika's coordination strategies to demolish the opposition. On some maps, it took us a while to get our bearings, but by the end, the entire club was working like a well-oiled military machine. The other DOKI's slowly took over responsibility for guiding their own partners, speeding on the process.
"I do think I'm starting to get bored of this!" Luke proudly announced at the end of a particularly complex map set in a nuclear power plant.
Yuri: I'm going to have to agree. Is there much of a point to this if we're guaranteed to win?
Monika: Don't you don't remember you how you were struggling just half an hour ago?
Monika: And besides, we're collecting great data!
Natsuki: Yeah, you've proved your point about teamwork, sure. But how much more data do we still need?
Monika: Not much more. So if we all really want, we can try more…drastic interventions in the game space.
"How drastic?" I asked, curious about what the DOKI's could do to a third–party server that wasn't hosted on their own quantum architecture.
Monika: You know those old FPS games, where you would type in "godmode" or "noclip" for different powerups?
Monika: Think of it like that…but you can ask for whatever you want.
"Wallhacks," Frank said immediately. "If we're talking cheats, make it so we can see everyone through walls. Unless that's too hard, then we can…
Natsuki: Already done. Got anything harder?
True to Franks' request, our screens suddenly lit up with player outlines, enemies in red, allies in blue. They were visible from across the map no matter what obstacles were in the way.
"I'll stay in character — surely invisibility wouldn't be too much to ask," Luke requested.
Luke's in-game character happened to be in my field of view, and I watched him wink out of existence as he ran off toward the enemy spawn, combat knife drawn and ready.
"Invisibility is kind of basic, isn't it?" Carter claimed. "Like, if we're showing off, can't we do something really crazy? I don't know what though…"
Sayori: Ooh, can I surprise you?
Sayori: Watch this — now you're really big, and can fly around, and try shooting this gun!
From across the map's main open space, I watched Carter's character model swell at least ten times in size and begin floating above the ground like a belligerent parade float. I watched him cautiously tap his left mouse button, and a deafening explosion in the game immediately followed. Carter kept clicking, and the enemy team members foolish enough to leave spawn were obliterated by a salvo of homing rockets that exploded into showers of glowing rainbow stars. Somewhere, someone's graphics card was getting fried…
Sayori: Ha! Give them some stardust, Starduster!
Sayori's outrageous display attracted the attention of any enemies that weren't being silently backstabbed by Luke, so I was free to observe the chaos at my leisure.
"Hey, you mentioned intercepting player coordinates," I told Monika. "I think all I want to do is see all of that at once. It might be interesting to see the match in progress."
Monika: Fine with me.
Monika: I think the others have this round just about wrapped up.
With a little tech-themed flourish, Monika whisked my display into a sort of super-spectator mode. Through simultaneous panes, I could see a list of all currently connected players, color–coded to their position as dots moving around on a wireframe map. Most of the dots were clustered around Carter's bombastic display as "Starduster," apparently convinced they had a chance against his enormous, rainbow–spewing avatar of destruction. Frank's dot happily captured the area's objectives in the meantime, and eventually began teleporting around errantly by the use of some new cheat. Luke's shortly started doing the same, and the two seemed to stalk each other in a sort of cat and mouse game. With the original challenge all but destroyed at this point, I could hardly blame them from getting into a hacking war.
Before I could get too comfortable watching everyone's antics, Monika sent an abrupt message to the group on the main screen.
Monika: I hope everyone's had loads of fun with this activity!
Monika: Because the global moderators just caught on and we're all about to be kicked in twelve seconds.
"Was this part of the plan?" I asked immediately.
Sayori: Who cares, I'm going all out!
Every texture on the game map suddenly erupted into scintillating, neon colors at Sayori's words. To my left, I heard Luke whisper something sounding like "world" to Yuri, and in response every member of the enemy team stopped dead in their tracks, paralyzed right before a rain of knives sliced into them from all directions. The chat overflowed with lines of "ROARING KITTEN IS THE KING OF CS!," among other spam which I couldn't read because my gameplay stream soon winked out of existence, replaced by the pop-up notification "You have been permanently banned from the master server."
"Dear god," I gasped, leaning back in my seat and trying to take in the insanity I just witnessed.
Monika: Not too bad for a night's work, hm?
Monika: What did you think, MC?
"I have no words. Just…I hope you had fun," I told her.
Monika: Ehe~
Monika: I absolutely did. It's not often the company allows us to go wild and do whatever we want to someone else's server.
Monika: It gave the girls and I a chance to show off our creativity to the world, in a way.
Monika: And I'm sure it was fun for you all at the controls as well.
"Sounds about right," I noted. Carter, barely keeping his manic-post game energy under control, was rambling to Frank, who was casually nodding along with the composure you'd expect of a Counter Strike veteran.
Monika: Good. Then I'll answer your question and say yes, blatantly cheating with the expectation of getting banned was part of today's schedule.
Monika: There's no way SalvoCore would allow it to happen without their permission and supervision.
"Sure. But don't spoil the moment for anyone."
Trying to calm down myself, I stole a moment for myself with a visit to the refreshments table. When I turned back, everyone was buoyantly caught up in conversation, mingling and chatting amid everyone's scattered laptops like it was any other party. On my way through, I heard (and read) snippets of conversation.
"Of course October would be your favorite month. All that spooky stuff to vibe to, people start taking creepy memes seriously, horror game streams pop up — pretty great, eh?"
Yuri: On the contrary Frank, I look forward to October for simpler reasons.
Yuri: The onset of autumn colors and the comforting flavors of the harvest season seem…nostalgic, somehow.
Yuri: And the falling temperatures tend to make people stay indoors, where they can…read books…if that's something you like?
"Heck, any time's a good time to stay in and read. Like, I ought to read more — Nat helps me sometimes — and, uh…"
Frank seemed to be faltering at Yuri's shrinking expression, but found his bearings soon enough.
"Uh, yeah, I actually totally get the autumn thing. Best time to slow down and appreciate things more, eh?"
"Stand up for myself? Why? I mean, I think I already have enough self–confidence, so all I have to do is be myself and I'll be fine."
Natsuki: When I said don't be a pushover, I didn't mean it like that!
Natsuki: I'm talking more about not being so…innocent?
Natsuki: Like, you don't have to be so open with what you like all the time. People will just take advantage of you.
"No, people appreciate it when you're confident with what you like. That's not being naïve, it's making sure you're not pretending to be someone you're not. Unless…huh?"
Natsuki: Sigh — you're such a doofus.
Natsuki: But a sweet, likable doofus, and…ugh!
Natsuki: It's so obvious why Sayori is in to you.]
"Uh, Thanks?"
Natsuki: Yeah, but how about you remember this?
Natsuki: Maybe most people won't take advantage of you, but they also won't "get" your interests right away either.
Natsuki: Does that sound better?
"Sure, you're just telling me to be careful and go slow because not everyone understands at first. I guess that's okay. You are the harmonizer AI around here."
Natsuki: I try to do my job…
Natsuki: And as long as you're listening, make sure you're being extra nice to Sayori, okay?
"What!? I'm always nice to Sayori! You don't need to remind me of all people."
"Indeed, I am quite aware of the effects of my personal manner, the shadow I cast. I believe it's rather nice, really — it keeps one away from pointless blather and so-called 'small talk.'"
Sayori: But I thought you said you wanted to make more friends?
"True friends! I refuse to simply acquiesce to every nagging social pressure. However well–intentioned, you can't expect me to follow ordinary advice."
Sayori: Maybe not, but you could still be less…scary?
Sayori: Wait, I'm sorry! Scary's not the right word.
Sayori: What I mean is…intimidating, yeah!
Sayori: Because Yuri can be really intimidating too when she wants, but she's also really, really gentle and kind when you get to know her.
Sayori: But, uh, I bet you already know that, being her assigned partner…heheh.
"You assume I don't possess a hidden softer side? That I may show to an elect few?"
Sayori: I didn't say you weren't kind…
Sayori: But if you say you are, maybe you could try opening up a bit more?
"Oh, if I did that, they'd soon run away screaming. That is, if I didn't first become bored with the conformist drivel that most people call thought."
Sayori: Come on, you can't just say things like that. It's not fair!
Sayori: If you want to be accepted, you've got to accept others too!
"That…I can't…in the event of...gods, I can't argue with that face. Stop looking at me like that!"
Sayori: Huh?
Sayori: Hm…and what if I don't?
Sayori: Ehe~
Sayori: (Is that how Monika does it?)
"They'll thank us for organizing the game later, I'm sure," I told Monika, gathering my items and throwing away some trash in preparation to leave.
Monika: I hope so.
Monika: I was planning on giving everyone a final wrap-up goodbye, if you want to slip out early.
"No, I'll stay with you, probably join back in. Isn't it just great to see the group like this though?"
I gestured to our club members, still fresh with excitement from Counter Strike and chatting happily. There was a certain unfamiliar sense of satisfaction I was feeling. It was like the pride taken from a job well done, but more intimate somehow, given that it so closely involved others.
Monika: I know exactly what you mean.
Monika: Everyone is getting along so naturally now, and we're really starting to learn and grow from each other.
Monika: For the club…this is exactly what I hoped for.
Monika: I can't thank you enough for making it all a reality with me.
Her gratitude was sincere, but there was still something off in her expression, a distance in her eyes.
"We should do something to celebrate," I ventured. "Just the two of us though. Would you, um…like that?"
Two months with her by my side, and I still stumbled over requests like that. Not that Monika smiled at me any less strongly in response.
Monika: MC, you hardly have to ask me.
Monika: I'm sure anything done with you will be absolutely wonderful.
"How about a fancy dinner then. I bet you've never done that before."
Monika: Definitely not. Something like that was way outside the boundaries of the game.
Monika: But, as a traditional romantic gesture, it's something I've always wanted, and from you…
Monika: . . .
Monika was at a rare lost for words, her text field momentarily occupied by a single heart. Her emerald eyes looked up at me dreamily, and I suddenly found it hard to drag myself back to logical thought.
"Tomorrow then. It's a Sunday evening, not too busy, and I don't think we'll need to stay out late anyway."
Monika: Perfect, I'll make the plans as soon as possible, and—
"Actually, no." I cut her off. "Let's have this one be special. Leave it entirely to me — you don't have to do anything but sit back and enjoy it."
Monika: Okay, that's even better!
Monika: I'm already looking forward to it, and…oh my goodness.
Monika: I'm so happy, I can't even contain myself…
With her face turning scarlet, Monika typed her last line in a flash and erased it just as quickly. Then putting her head to the side, almost Yuri-like, her sprite trembled quietly with what had to be joy. A different, even stronger sense of satisfaction brimming in my chest, I went back to the other guys.
"Hey, the game man's back!" Frank said to me first. "Dude, that was so epic what you and Monika just did to the server. Like, we'd better have been recording that, because we could start three different memes just from the last minute, I swear."
"If each of our dear AI companions can wield that power…the implications are staggering," Luke noted.
"I know, right?" Carter interjected. "When's the next time we do something like that, huh? I can bet the other clubs around here aren't doing anything as cool!"
Nodding, I happily took their input and began planning the next meeting of the university's Doki Doki Literature Club.
Author's Notes:
Oy, aren't there any Cardcaptor Sakura fans in the house here? Call out my references already!
I only say this because I did dearly enjoy the CCS anime, to a depth that earnestly surprised me. I swear, I wouldn't have survived my own junior year of college without that series to come back to on quiet evenings.
The Halloween costumes of the girls were based off of various holiday-themed DDLC fan artworks I've seen. In different pieces, I've seen Monika dressed up as both an angel and a devil, so there you go.
I'm sorry if this chapter is out a week or so later than you might have expected — I promise I wasn't waiting to release it on Halloween. I wanted it to be a quick, light and fluffy club meeting chapter, but when I start writing something without a plan, it tends to balloon past my expectations. Hope you enjoyed regardless. I happen to know a fair bit about competitive Melee, but next to nothing about Counter Strike, so feel free correct anything that seems off, if you're so inclined.
The next chapter, which I already have an outline for, should be ready swiftly…