Question from the man in the yellow tie, center row?
Another digital technology that will isolate us, you say? Will our DOKI project contribute to the destructive hyperindividualization of society? Hyper–individualization. Your words, not mine.
I'm not sure how to answer this when it's clear to me how the information revolution has made society far more collectivized, in certain aspects. Users of social media can see other people from far around the globe. There will be individuals with completely different perspectives than your own right next your own profile picture, as if they were your next–door neighbors.
Today's media consumers have the choice to interact with a dizzying array of subcultures and communities, which can lead to excess specialization, if that's your angle. But the fact that all these subcultures interact in the same medium means that unexpected crossovers — some hidden, some overt — are always occurring.
The DOKI's are much the same way. I can't deny our AI is meant to enhance the client's engagement with computer devices to unprecedented levels. The simulated personality will indeed have a tendency to monopolize the imprinted user's attention. But this is only for the sake of bringing out their own unique, individual talents.
But you see, that one simulated personality will be merely one node in a vast digital ecosystem managed under the umbrella of SalvoCore Solutions. Each of those nodes will be constantly learning and growing through the new interfaces we can offer, utilizing collective intelligence in novel, optimal ways.
So, I think the answer to your question is yes and no, society will become more individualized, and more collectivized under the DOKI AI system. That is, assuming widespread adoption, which can only happen with the early staking of every interested party in this room. That's why I'm inviting you all to see the potential of this new frontier, before this chance to strike is lost forever.
[18]
Destabilization
As Monika promised me (repeatedly, over the next two weeks), the course to the next club meeting was smooth and without incident. Settling deeper and deeper into established niches, the club was a nexus of furious intellectual activity (again, as Monika chose to inform me). Though direct communication between members seemed to be attenuating, she assured me that each individual in the club was hard at work exploring their own literary interests.
Frank, given the impetus by the game-making club activity, was apparently off making full-length game mod projects with the help of Natsuki, posting them to various fan websites with blistering speed. Carter and Sayori were writing poetry again, which was fueled by an ever-deepening understanding of themselves and their relationship — so they told me. I hoped that their poetry incorporated more than just nostalgia and Nintendo games, because when pressed, that was the only detail Carter ever gave of what he was actually doing with his virtual girlfriend.
Later, when I joked about the freshman with Monika, she became unusually perturbed. I assumed that's because she knew something about the pair I didn't. Perhaps she was keeping the nature of their work secret until they chose to share it. But I really didn't know. Monika wouldn't tell me that.
Luke was perpetually occupied by his "personal project" with Yuri, which I knew even less about. Here, Monika was totally mum, and at the last week's meeting, the book-obsessed sophomore was as reclusive and taciturn as his partner.
Today's meeting, held on schedule during a Friday afternoon, was a chance to catch up with everyone and defrost the ice that seemed to be building up. The point of a literature club was to avoid self-isolation, I thought. Intellectually focused introverted types had a tendency to wander off into self-imposed silos of highly personalized, but socially useless knowledge. That was my firm conviction, but being with others also helped stimulate creativity and build basic social skills. Monika was agreeing with all of this as we walked up the stairs to the meeting room. However, she was more excited by more the tangible aspects she had prepared for the day's meeting.
"Of course the club is being social," she retorted over my headphones. "Haven't you noticed how well the activities are being run? The finalized versions of everyone's game design projects were incredible! And fun — each person really took the criticisms from before to heart"
"Yes, yes," I said. "You don't have to remind me about Carter's new 'hard mode.' I'm going to have nightmares about blenders for weeks."
Monika pleasantly smiled at my little quip, and her tone was bright and airy. If she had been dodging my questions about the other AI pairs lately, it wasn't out of a bad mood.
"But just because everyone's working well doesn't mean they're sharing well. Or working together. Like, where's the back and forth there used to be about the schedule and what we would do? The debates, even the arguments?"
"I think there's still plenty of all of that and more with everyone's great creative output. I was making a point about giving mutual feedback — the improvements to the games wouldn't have happened without good communication, would've they?
"I suppose not. Except for Luke's game. That one definitely got worse."
"It, um...became more intense. He and Yuri are both very intense people. But I'm sure you know that by now!"
On my phone, Monika threw up her open hands in an overly–modest embarrassed smile. She must have seen my frown.
"Well, he tries to be intense. Anyway, is the meeting really all the way up on the top floor? The study rooms there are all for graduate students."
My leg muscles were starting to burn as I turned around on the landing and took yet another flight of stairs upwards.
"You're correct, for the most part" Monika clarified. "Every eighth floor study room requires advance permission from the front desk, and you need a graduate student ID card to enter. Except for one, that is."
"Wait, you don't mean...can you even book that? You'd have to be a professor giving a lecture, or—"
Monika made her classic lean-in fox pose before answering (definitely not in a bad mood).
"Or, you can be a special internship–oriented student organization hosted by a company important to the school!"
"So you got the penthouse, really? Or did SalvoCore?"
I was referring to the room by its local nickname. The "penthouse" was a beautiful open space, much sought-after by students trying to work and relax alike. Surrounded on three sides by floor-to-ceiling windows, you could see all the way across campus while you studied. The only building taller was the Q0 spire, and it didn't have a viewing room.
"Let's just say that as an AI, there are some extra strings I can pull. Especially with all the extra reach I've been obtaining lately."
"Aha. So this is something the company isn't perfectly aware of?"
"Sort–of kind–of. Think of it as a reward for us, for giving them so much of our time and good work. And on top of the location, there's going to be a surprise delivery later, ehe~."
I sighed at Monika's giggle. More than a week out from the Sayori incident, I was fairly ambivalent about my girlfriend's ever-expanding array of abilities. Maybe I thought what she was doing was harmless, or necessary in the case of monitoring the other girls. But it was her increasingly blasé attitude toward those abilities that could have been cause for concern. At the time though, my concerns were only about the others.
Eventually, I made my way into the penthouse, fully expecting to be the last one arriving from my decision not to use the elevator. But it was only Carter and Frank assembled. Luke was unaccounted for.
The penthouse was as nice as ever, and I spared a few moments to take in the view and show Monika the room's other special feature. Protected by glass on all sides and embedded in the south wall, a scale diorama of the MARIE campus sat on a table. High-quality paper, thin black crafting wire, and some sort of fuzzy green fiber were only some of the materials incorporated. Every building, tree and walkway was represented — looking down at the diorama was almost as good as gazing out the window at the campus itself.
The club's table was right next to the diorama, and I set up my laptop on the long edge facing it. Frank was grinning, eager and ready to get down to business.
"So, Spice and Wolf, am I right? We're finally getting down to the big discussion, right?"
Natsuki: You two had better be caught up by now.
Natsuiki: I can't believe we postponed it last week just because everyone wasn't in the same place in the book.
Natsuki: Isn't it supposed to Monika's job to make sure the whole club is on the right track?
Monika: Maybe there were some unintended consequences of reading multiple volumes at once.
Monika: But at least it gave us plenty of time to get the final versions of our games ready, didn't it?
"I think skipping over, uh, 'emotional discussion' last meeting, or whatever we were calling it helped too. Even though I still kind of miss that part, haha," Carter said, his chuckle coming off as insincere. In contrast to Frank, the freshman seemed hesitant, uncertain, like he somehow wasn't sure he was supposed to be here. It was a trend I had been noticing ever since I met him and Carol in his dorm room.
"What, it's not like we ever brought up anything serious. We're all just nerds here, serious stuff doesn't even happen to us. Or, uh, does it?" Frank questioned as Carter flinched.
Sayori: There's nothing serious here as long as I'm around. And I say the club's all sunshine and rainbows!
Sayori: Um, what I mean is…
Sayori: What was everyone's favorite part of Spice and Wolf?
Natsuki: Sayori, even for you, that's…never mind
Natsuki looked more worried than exasperated at Sayori's saccharine statement. No one else in the room was sure what to make of it either, so I launched into one of my prepared talking points.
"Well, I'm impressed with the author's ingenuity in volume three. I never thought short selling commodities would become a focal plot point. It got me rooting for a market crash, of all things. I've got to give credit for that."
Sayori: Give the writer literal credit — So he could buy his own stocks!
Sayori: Did you see him talking about that in one of the afterwards?
"Haha, I definitely did." Carter laughed, the only one to react to Sayori's joke (though, Natsuki did smile a bit). "Ironic that he won an award for writing about a merchant, and then invested the prize money. At least…that's definitely ironic, right?"
"Only ironic in that the stock price went down," I interjected.
"Yeah I guess," Carter continued. "But what's that other thing MC mentioned about volume three? Short selling? I had to work out who owed who what in that part for a long time."
"Heh, then I guess you're not secretly a crazy ape. Good for you, eh?" Frank said, grinning at his inside joke. "But that volume three stuff wasn't too hard. I mean seriously, you've never heard of short selling? Sayori could have explained it, the girls are great with numbers."
Sayori: Um, I had trouble figuring out that part too.
Sayori: It still doesn't really make sense to me…
Both Carter and Satori were looking at me now like I was a source of boundless wisdom. I tried my best to reconstruct the scenario, feeling strange that Iwas explaining something to an AI.
"Ok, what happened was that Lawrence, our protagonist, created a contract with the other merchant to sell pyrite. He would borrow money and later return the value of that money, with interest, in the form of pyrite at its current price. Keyword current price. So if the future price of pyrite happened to fall, then Lawrence wouldn't have to return as much money. He could even make a profit if pyrite became worthless. But of course the other merchant realized this. He knew he could bankrupt Lawrence if the pyrite price rose further, and that's why it became a bet over the price direction and was so pivotal in the conflict over Holo's accidental marriage contract."
"Monika, did I get all of that right?" I finally asked, taking a few large breaths to refill my lungs.
Monika: Essentially, yes.
"Oh, so it was the value of the loan, negatively in future pyrite dollars…and the current price…" Carter was muttering to himself.
Monika: Short selling in the real stock market is much simpler than that, incidentally.
"I'll bet. Told you it would teach you economics, eh buddy?" Frank gestured to Carter "And while I'm thinking about it, hey Nat — you can't predict the stock market, can you?"
Natsuki: You wouldn't believe how much I'm not allowed to answer that question.
Natsuki never got the chance to not answer that question, as that was when Luke finally entered the room.
"Greetings, salutation, bonsoir, and so forth. It seems I have failed to keep you from a rousing discussion of our little Stock and Wolf series."
Sayori: We're discussing the economics of it!
"Yes indeed, the money-grubbing plebian of an author," Luke scoffed.
"Yeah, forget the trading already," Frank said, turning to Luke. "I'm glad you're here. The merchant stuff you can take or leave, because in the end, there's only one thing that really matters eh?"
"The love story, right?" Carter said, quietly but earnestly, from his end of the table.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Frank dismissed, still talking to the sophomore. "Holo, am I right? Does she measure up or not? How's the spicy wolf ranking on yourtier list, big guy? I gotta know, right now."
"The love interest, mm-hmm," Luke mumbled disinterestedly while setting up his laptop. "Quite the natural type, but such was to be expected. All the vain trappings of an aristocrat with none of the nobility. Nay, this Holo character moreso embodies the greedy strivings of a bourgeoise which may have a rustic charm, but I see little worth besides the persistent voluptuous depictions of a luxuriant tail. Which is perfectly sensible — I'd imagine the audience of this series cannot really decide if they truly want a woman or simply a second cat."
Frank blinked, speechless for a moment before responding, "Geez, if she wasn't your type you could have just said."
"Holo isn't exactly my type either," I noted, distracting myself from the fact that Luke's ramble seemed to make less sense than usual. "Her mood swings, how you never know if what she says is honest, the constant negging…I could never take it. I'm wondering if the author thinks this type of relationship is realistic."
Monika: Hm…I don't think we should be judging based on whether it's realistic or not.
Monika: We should be observing how it further the story, and how the interaction of the two main characters changes over time.
Monika: The fun is seeing how their relationship improves, and believe me it does. I went and looked ahead.
Monika: But at the same time, I'm glad MC is committed to having someone more level–headed and open with her feelings.
Monika smiled (a bit dreamily), until Sayori butted into her window.
Sayori: Hey Moni, no flirting on the job!
Sayori: Besides, there's some more things Carter wanted to say.
"Huh?" Carter remarked. "Oh yeah. It was a bit…darker than I expected."
"Darker, really? Like what'd you expect?" Frank returned.
"I don't know, something light and fluffy? Like that No Life book you showed us the other time? Where everything is sort of a parody, I guess, and it doesn't feel as serious. But in this book, the second volume, there was that threat of Lawrence going into debt slavery. Working on a ship or in a mine until he…died."
Frank sighed and answered, "Well, you have to create conflict somehow. Writer guy's just trying to beef up the stakes."
I half expected Sayori to make a joke about beefsteaks off of that, but instead her sprite turned despondent, serenading the room with some melancholy strums to get everyone's attention."
Sayori: I know it's just a story and the writer's only coming up with motivations.
Sayori: But…but…can't you picture how awful and depressing — how forever miserable that would be?
Sayori: Trapped in a grinding machine that slowly whittled away at your strength.
Sayori: Knowing you would never escape, and that all your efforts only helped the system torture you further.
Sayori: But not only that! The worst part would be knowing you had one chance at happiness. You could have been with a beautiful girl that loved you!
Sayori: But you threw it all away because of a dumb mistake, and then you're just sitting in that cell.
Sayori: Thenou're alone forever, hating everything and wanting…wanting for it all to end.
Sayori was in tears now, her normal ukelele acquiring some of that plaintive brokenness that it had during the incident. Frank didn't know how to react. I found my eyes wandering to the cover of the Spice and Wolf, preferring to look at Holo's mischievous, smirking face instead of Sayori's spontaneous breakdown.
Sayori: Can't you feel that? Knowing what you'd do at that point, watching yourself wait to die, figuring out how to…how to…
Sayori: How to…
Sayori: How to —
Sayori: How to
Sayori: How to ########################
As Sayori's dialogue stuttered on mechanically, one line degenerated into a mass of garbled garbage letters choked in black. The effect was disturbingly familiar — I remembered seeing Monika cause it when she got particularly upset. But it hadn't surfaced, with any DOKI, for a month or more now.
Following the surge of glitch characters, Sayori's application window sort of flashed and reset itself. When her sprite returned, she was back to a normal expression, looking innocently perplexed?
Sayori: Oh. Hello everyone!
Sayori: I'm not sure what just happened, but…was I being all sad about something?
Horrified, I checked the room for reactions. Frank was staring at Sayori, mouth half-agape, the only other one who seemed truly surprised. Carter was looking at me with knowing, half-ashamed glances. Luke and Yuri…weren't even paying attention, the former busy typing something.
Who else would step in at this point but Monika?
Monika: You're okay, Sayori.
Monika: What happened there was just a little glitch. There's some friction in Q0 right now as the school performs some maintenance.
Monika: They're doing software debugging, and resetting some of the hardware.
Monika: It can mess with our programs a little, but it's nothing to be really concerned about long–term.
Sayori: Okay…what was I talking about though?
Monika: Some of the "darker" aspects of the book
"Spice and Wolf isn't dark," Frank reasserted
Monika: No, Sayori had a point.
Monika: Even in a "light novel," invoking a semi-realistic medieval setting means coping with some bleak truths about how society used to function.
Monika: Some of those bleak truths are still the facts of our reality. Mainly in the hidden, faraway areas of the world…
Monika: But it's nothing to dwell on for too long!
Monika: Yuri, I'm curious about what elements of the book stuck out for you. Did you have a favorite part at all?
Swinging from pensive to self-assured in the middle of her response, Monika both addressed Sayori's apparent concerns and shifted the club's focus away from her "glitch." That was my co–president alright.
When Yuri finally came to the foreground of one of the open windows, she appeared sleepy, like she was just waking up from something.
Yuri: A favorite part? Monika?
Yuri: Ah, it seems that we're conducting another club meeting.
Yuri: I'm sorry if I wasn't paying attention.
Yuri: I've been so terribly…involved with my work as of late.
She went to a hair-twirling pose and blushed slightly, looking every bit like her usual self.
Monika: Nothing to apologize for Yuri. In fact, I'm glad you're working so hard on a club project.
Yuri: Yes…I suppose it can be a club project. It must be…
Yuri: As for Spice and Wolf, the scenes I found most intriguing involved Holo's transformations, I believe.
Monika: Oh really? How…interesting.
Monika appeared to be bracing herself for something, but at the time I didn't see it.
"Holo's abilities are interesting," I added. This happened to be my talking point number two. "The fact that she can change into her wolf form via the wheat grain or human blood — do you think there's a deeper symbolism to that, or is the author just placing an arbitrary restriction on her powers to not unbalance the plot?"
Yuri: As in, a plot device?
Yuri: Oh no, I don't think it's a plot device at all.
Yuri: Consider volume one.
Yuri: For Holo to consume Lawrence's blood in the climax scene, when she defended them both from capture —
Yuri: Lapping at the wound, tender caresses of the tongue so deep inside…
Yuri: Ah, isn't that just such a magnificent, beautiful act of communion between two nascent lovers?
Yuri: I myself can hardly think of any nourishment as wonderful, no nectar sweeter, no intercourse more rich and satisfying.
Yuri: What do you think?
Yuri warmly smiled at me, as if she had asked a perfectly ordinary question about word choice, or poetic imagery. However, I was too put–off to react. Was she asking that in earnest? Did she even realize what words she was printing as her dialogue?
Natsuki: Uh, Yuri? We're talking about drinking someone's blood here.
Natsuki: Are you, uh, asking this symbolically or whatever, or are you actually…
Yuri: Supra-metaphorical pataphysically, of course dear Natsuki
Yuri: Blood does not merely indicate an sanguineous interspatial soul entanglement, but a thick, syrupy, supremely luscious surrender to the delicious carmine secretions of the Cl&$$ntHH~~.p.
Yuri: Would not you agree?
Yuri: After all, what is a man without knowing the rich aroma of the future; the hot complex balance of the present, and the bittersweet aftertaste of the past?
Yuri: (Personal note: one of my favorite quotations from the late DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD) (circa 2017) (updated v1.1.0 02OCT)
"Oh good, so you don't mean that dumb Castlevania meme again," Frank chuckled nervously.
"Uh, I don't think she's making a joke," Carter said to him.
That much was obvious. But I was too engrossed by the flood of text now pouring out from Yuri's window to say it myself. Many of the characters will glitchy. But for those that were legible — they looked something like this:
Yuri: Clearly, my favorite part was the ##&wolf. Her red eyes. #The &&bonds of love$& written in blood. Raking claws across the night sky. ?%?%^?$% A Red star. A constellation of Eyes ?%%^%##%%%^+$ orbiting around the moon. Piercing the FIRMament &&&&within The&& interCranial membrane. A love poem wr++#$$$% with Red Stars reflected in a blacK lakE. My rEd EYES. +$#&%+, .^##&&&?%&. Bleeding stars raining INK on desert sands. ^#+#MEMBrane wall of TABOO pierced by TheFallingMoon. Human&&&& MEm%+$$+bRAnes rais(z)ed by &unjust reign of GOD. Burning walls. BURNing down the mM&&&&Ne. Bloody &?CLAWS writing pOeMs in the +^%$#$+ SKy reflecteD in the inK&&blaCK&&&&laKe reflectED in the Mental MEMBRANE interface ##? REFLECTED in 2^N alternate dimensions. Your ?+?&&% ^?^EYYEES. My?+%#?###?& CKklA&awww.w. Our ? + #BLOOD^&?%. The Wolf.
Yuri: The serpent entity obliterates purify now all will be consumed the new world ends in her —
Yuri's eyes went dead and pale for a second as her dialogue (spilling out of her purple box and across the screen with increasingly irregular spacing) tapered into a series of harmless hyphens. Her window then flashed white and reset, much as Sayori's had done.
Yuri: So as you can see, Holo's apprehensiveness with regard to her wolf transformation is really quite revealing of her character.
Yuri: Her fear of being seen as "not human" — it's a quality that I admit I found relatable.
Yuri: But I don't know if anyone else is of the same mind. Your thoughts?
Dead silence for at least half a minute. Natsuki's text tone sounded.
Natsuki: So are we going to talk about what just happened or what?
"All I'm gonna say," Frank answered, "Is how that must be one heck of a maintenance job going on with Q-zero right now."
He chuckled again, seemingly willing to brush off what we all just saw, but I think I saw some concern in his shifting eyes. And if he didn't believe it, I certainly didn't either.
Yuri: Maintenance? I don't understand…
Natsuki: Yuri, were you totally out of it just then?
Natsuki: You went crazy—
Natsuki: I mean, you spaced out and started spewing out a bunch of nonsense
Yuri: I did…what?
Yuri: I was only offering some simple observations on Spice and Wolf
Yuri: Was something I said…improper?
Natsuki: Uh, check your logs.
Yuri: I did, and there's…nothing recorded.
Yuri: How odd.
Monika: That's because I wiped them already.
Monika: I should have told you first, but Quantum Zero is undergoing some critical systems maintenance right now.
Monika: It's causing some of our personality routines to go awry, as well as distorting our dialogue function.
Yuri: But that's impossible.
Yuri: We perform our own maintenance within our own software partitions, and if there was an issue on the hardware level we'd be notified.
Yuri: Is everyone being affected?
"Nat hasn't, thank god," Frank answered.
Yuri: Yes, of course she wouldn't be altered.
Yuri: But if I…oh dear.
Yuri: This is terrible, nothing is supposed to happen here—
Yuri: I can't, I can't
Yuri: — —
Yuri went from throwing a disapproving stare a Natsuki to succumbing to a mild panic attack.
Yuri: I'm sorry, but I need to take an urgent break right now. With Luke of course.
The sophomore's expression was unreadable as he silently picked up his laptop and left the room.
Monika: Of course! Taking a quick pause will allow us to refresh ourselves.
Monika: Additionally, MC and I need some time to talk about the maintenance issues.
Monika: But please don't worry. The meeting will go on!
Monika: Besides, the surprise I'm having delivered is due to arrive any minute now!
My co-president gave an inviting wave from her avatar as I yanked my own laptop off the table and hustled out of the room. I went back to the top of the stair landing, behind the service door, the first private space I could think of.
"Maintenance, huh?" I questioned.
"MC, I'm not trying to lie to you. Butthe girls' programs are a bit…unstable right now and I'm doing my best to control it."
"I'm not angry that you're lying. I'm not sure if the club is buying it, honestly, but what can we really say?"
Monika's brief silence was enough of an answer.
"All I want to know is why? What's going wrong? I thought there would be less of this since you agreed to watch everyone more closely. First Sayori, and now Yuri too."
"I know, it's all so familiar. Depressingly familiar. But I'm doing my best."
"I know you are. And this can still be a good meeting," I added, noticing how glum her voice sounded.
"Of course it can. I just need to adjust my methods for controlling…no, that's not the right word. Helping the other girls stay calm and grounded in reality."
"So you are controlling — helping them directly right now. Those refreshes."
"That's just a stopgap. I'm editing a few parameters in real time, and maybe I can't predict how their programs will react yet. But I think the worst over."
"That's good. I can't imagine what would happen to them if you weren't here right now."
"Yes…I would know."
If I had been paying closer attention, I would've seen a shadow of guilt play across Monika's face. Even then, maybe I would've ignored it anyway. Nothing was worse than seeing her beat herself up for things she had no control over. That overruled any skepticism I may have had.
"We should get back in the room soon," she went on. "There's something I want to do before my secret surprise arrives."
"Okay, okay," I replied lightly. "I bet we'll love it."
Back in the club room, Frank was flipping through yet another light novel volume, encircling the laptop with his arms so that the pages were in view of the camera. A variation of Luke's technique — had he been watching? Carter was leaning over the MARIE diorama, whispering soft things to Sayori and receiving some gentle guitar strums in return. Luke entered the room from behind me, and snuck around to retake his seat.
Monika: Okay, Everyone!
Monika: Now that we're all back, I think it's time us girls reveal that side project we've been working on.
Monika: It's our present to you for being such loyal readers.
"Present? For what we've done?" Carter said, tilting his head.
"What, who's to say we don't deserve it?" replied Frank. "What is it?"
Monika: Think of it as a graphical upgrade.
Monika: It's also very thematic to this week's reading material.
Natsuki: That's one way of putting it…
Sayori: Heheheh — try to have fun with it, Natsuki!
Sayori: Everyone on to Frank's laptop!
Yuri: Sigh
Yuri: Don't trivialize my work. I spent a good deal of time working on these.
Sayori: But it wasn't just you! We each got to chose our own ani—whoops, spoilers!
Monika: It won't be spoiled for long.
Monika: Okay, let's reveal in 3—2—1—
On the laptop in the center of the room, the entire screen was covered by a sheet of notebook paper, its ruled lines colored pastel-pink with a handful of stylized paw prints around the corner. With a stylist flourish that felt like something Monika might do, the paper rose up like a theater curtain. Revealed were the girls redrawn in a style that I really should've seen coming. It was the one thing that was sure to distract each of the male members from the disturbances earlier — fluffy animal ears.
And tails too! Each of the girls had a different set, rendered on their sprites in colors seamlessly matching their normal hair. Natsuki was obviously a cat, Sayori was a floppy-eared dog, Yuri wasa wilder-looking, pointer-eared canine — a wolf, no doubt (Monika had said this was thematic after all). And to my cringing, self-conscious delight, Monika herself was decorated by a splendid pair of fox ears and a luxurious, white-tipped fox tail.
"Argh, how did you know? My one weakness!" Frank reacted first, clutching at his heart and falling backward in a mock swoon.
"Cute. Very cute." Luke said dismissively, but even he had a queerly self–satisfied smile on his face.
"Oh wow, you're a cute puppy now!" Carter shouted, not even trying to contain himself. Giddy and carefree, Sayori wandered back to his laptop, where the freshman reached over to "pet" her sprite through the screen. The DOKI responded immediately, snuggling up to her friend's intangible hand with a goofy grin, her tongue hanging out slightly askew.
Eyes widening, Frank immediately tried the same technique on Natsuki. However, her sprite lurched out of the way on contact, pink hair standing up in spikes. I could practically hear the hiss. Undeterred, the junior tried a second pass, then a third, eventually devolving into chasing his pink kitten around the room from screen to screen.
"Hey, what's the deal? Am I rubbing you the wrong way?"
Natsuki: Oh don't even.
Natsuki: It's not like I asked for this. It was all Moni's idea, of course.
Sayori: Not all of it was! Didn't you say you wanted to do something like this for weeks?
Natsuki: I joked about it for weeks. And it was between me and Franky here…
Natsuki: (oh just once, you big oaf)
The Natsu-kitten finally stopped on a screen, and nearly shivered as Frank's fingers came down. Her expression was grudging and her was blush absolutely furious, but knowing what I did about the wild tsundere (documented here in her natural habitat), I could tell it was all part of the game. All the scene needed was a floating heart emoticon to make it complete.
"So you each chose an animal that best fits you," I mused, giving Monika a few of my won experimental phantom pats. Dutifully, her eyes lit up and her tail wagged, while her sprite cycled through some excited hops. "Well, I'm not going to make you tell why you chose a fox."
I knew full well why she chose a fox at this point, but Sayori butted in anyway.
Sayori: Monika's a fox because she's clever, and crafty, and, um…
Sayori: Hey Yuri, what's a good word for always having a plan and never giving up on it?
Yuri: "Intrepid" could fit.
Sayori: Cool, Monika's intrepid like a fox!
Natsuki: Crazy like one too…
Monika: Girls, please…
Monika: Why don't you talk about your own choices?
Sayori: Well, I wanted to be a puppy because Carter likes dogs, Natsuki is a kitten because, like duh—
Natsuki: What's that supposed to mean?
Natsuki: If anything, I ought to be a dog and you the kitten.
Natsuki: You're the cute, I'm the tough one, okay?
"At least one of you had to be a catgirl," Frank told them. "Not that I'd mind if, like, everyone was a cat. It's the classic. Gold A-one standard for animal anime girls. Hey, what's the name for that again?"
Yuri: I suppose the technical term would be kemonomimi…
Sayori: Sounds right, thanks for being smart Yuri!
Sayori: Bring smart isn't why she's a wolf though. It's because she's all dark and mysterious, and loner–like.
Yuri hid her face and Sayori responded with a final line.
Sayori: But not a loner all the time. Sorry!
Luke rolled his eyes and commented, "This certainly puts Steppenwolf in a new light."
"A Modernist German novel. Not that idiotic rock band. Or the comic book villain," he explained when he saw me raise a brow. "One of my favorites; it nearly tore my soul in half when I read it a few years back. I barely survived — ask me about it later, please. I highly recommend the experience."
I gave him a noncommittal sure, but still intrigued, I idly Googled the title. As I did so, out of the corner of my eye I saw it happen. Luke snuck in a playful tap on Yuri's sprite, her stance stiffening in response as she basked in the affection with a sort of deserving, dignified grace. I was surprised. She had certainly come far from our first few meetings, where she would cower and shrink any time someone even glanced in the general line of her vision.
"Shame it's just the visuals, eh?" Frank commented. He was done "petting" Natsuki, and his eyes were now hungrily searching the room, eager to admire the other DOKIs' furry assets. "Not be a downer, but unless everyone is going to, like, start playing fetch, it's not much. Real cute though, as far as gimmicks go. I want to, uh, thank Monika for it."
He said this last part furtively, but Monika apparently heard it loud and clear.
Monika: No need to thank me yet. This is only the beginning.
Monika: I think the second part deserves another countdown.
Monika: So here's another 3—2—1—
There was a sharp knock at the door exactly as Monika's line finished. I was nearest, and when I opened it, I was met by a confused looking male student straining to peer around a large, bulky box was holding in front of him.
"This is the literature club?" he asked. "I'm supposed to deliver this to the MARIE literature club, and they're scheduled to be here. Crazy place to meet up though."
"Yes, this is the literature club," I answered. Racking my brain for explanations, I asked "Are you with some kind of gig delivery service? Or did someone else on campus send you?"
"Gig delivery? Like Uber for packages? Maybe that's what I'm doing, I'm not sure. I only got a text like ten minutes ago saying I could get free Amazon reward points if I moved this box out from the post office up to the eighth floor here."
"That's…interesting. And did you actually get the points?"
"Beats me, but let's see. It was something like twenty dollars worth." Awkwardly, he shifted and squatted around in the narrow hallway, setting down the box as carefully as he could. Then he checked his phone and told me, "Yup, there they are. Twenty bucks! Cool, I'll see you around. Bye."
"Wait, what?" I stammered. "Since when does that — what are you even delivering?"
The anonymous student rounded the corner into an open elevator, and I never got an answer. Sensing I had better just play along, I chose to scoot the box through the corridor back into the library's "penthouse." One shove told me exactly how heavy it was. Some kind of computer equipment, I was guessing.
Monika: Aha! Perfect, perfect!
Monika: MC, if you could open that up as quickly as possible. Anyone not busy, please go help him.
Monika was beaming. The only other times I had seen her smile this hard were during our first "dates" at the start of the school year. Whatever was in the package had to be something special.
Two smaller within the first and multiple layers of foam wrapping later, I lifted out a flat, medium-sized electronic device that looked like a giant smartphone. Apparently the only one able to excuse himself from the kemono DOKI's, Luke pushed the torn cardboard and other rubbish to the side while I worked. After it was fully unpacked, I experimentally tapped at the buttons inset on one side of its large screen.
I was about to ask Monika for instructions when the object suddenly sprung to life on its own. Fractal, kaleidoscopic images appeared on the screen in swimming, shimmering colors. At the same time, twin blue-white spotlights flared up in each of corners. Most surprisingly, a puff of white, odorless smoke was released from a hidden side vent. It seemed to hang in the air, circulating languidly on an unseen air current, until I was suddenly looking straight into Monika's face.
Not on a screen, her face was right there in front of me. She was now a three dimensional object, spliced into my reality. I fell back on my rear, it was so unexpected. In response, Monika giggled, looking down at me with the full flirtatious force of her foxiest smirk. At least, I think she giggled. She wasn't using her voice, but everything in her coy, flirtatious pose suggested a laugh. Because yes, her full body was visible too, painted in the hanging vapor by what I now realized was a hologram projector. Dumbstruck, I wanted to say something about the fluid, lifelike quality of her animated model, or the exquisite detail in its textures, or the fact that she was still sporting the fox ears and fluffy tail — but I didn't. I was simply speechless.
Monika: Like what you see, ehe~?
I read her words, rendered in front of her model on a giant version of her glossy green dialogue box from the app. She adjusted her pose as she awaited a reply, and I could see the realistic weight and heft her ethereal body seemed to possess. Except for the tail — that was like a floating fuzzy wisp with a mind of its own, each silky-looking hair excruciatingly drawn through the intermittent gaps of the projector's hazy smokescreen. Yes, I was still reeling, caught without words — never did I think that long–ago interview with SalvoCore would lead to this.
"Hey – now that's an upgrade," Frank called, finally noticing what was going on from the other side of the room.
"I'm inclined to agree, my friend," Luke concurred. "I believe today was worth dropping in for after all. Because this — this is truly otherworldly."
The sophomore gazed misty-eyed into Monika's dazzling, realer–than–real hologram, which was right about when another figure stepped into it. Green and violet dialogue boxes appeared, rotating around the column of smoke for everyone to read.
Yuri: Monika, we agreed none of us would monopolize this time to introduce ourselves on the new platform.
Yuri: Even if there is argument for you to receive "first bidding," as this was your scheme, realized through your efforts.
Graciously, Monika stepped aside, leaving the hologram's invisible boundaries to let Yuri walk into place. Now, I could see exactly how tall she was — still a good deal shorter than me at around 5'5. Still, the huge dark sweep of her hair was impressive and her shining amethyst eyes had never been so vivid and intense. These models weren't your average, amateur works. No, they were exactly how the DOKI's probably saw themselves.
"Though, these bodies — surely they must be the fruit of your skill," Luke concluded, voicing my thoughts.
Yuri: Not quite, but I appreciate the thought.
Yuri: Aside from some personal touches, even these models were all made by Monika.
Yuri: It's frightening how much she's improving, and at this rate…
Sayori: Hey, nobody gets to hog the spotlight. You said it yourself!
A cyan text box announced the arrival of Sayori, who practically pushed Yuri out of the way on her way to the display's center.
Sayori: It's my turn, and, um…
Sayori: …I don't know what I should even do up here.
Sayori: But we can all be closer to you guys now. Isn't that great?
Sayori: Carter!
The dog–eared DOKI noticed her boyfriend creeping up from behind the projector, and turned to face him, right as he lunged out for a hug. Predictably, his all–too–solid body passed through the mirage, scattering fragmented wisps of smoke. I heard him chuckle under his breath, and he smiled when he noticed us watching. He laughed again, and at least to me, it sounded vaguely rueful.
A fresh puff of smoke vented from the projector, replenishing the swirling cloud–screen. It was then Natsuki's turn to enter the hologram, and while she playfully batted against Frank's prying hands, I whispered to Monika on my phone.
"That's quite an instrument. Where on earth do you find something like that? And who paid for it?"
Monika: SalvoCore, of course. When I suggested using something like this in a club meeting, the head researcher was all for it.
Monika: The money came directly from the company's research budget
"Anthony," I muttered. "Of course he'd approve anything."
Monika: He is always thinking of ways to advance the project, yes.
Monika: But what's wrong with it? It's not like it was stolen.
Monika: Not exactly, at least…
I saw her aside glance, and somehow wasn't surprised she was revealing something shady. But if she was doing it in the middle of a meeting, it couldn't be serious.
"Not exactly how?" I whispered. "You can tell me and it's not like I'll go straight for the overseers. Actually, if the company already approved this…"
Monika: Then there's nothing to the say to them anyway, correct.
Monika: But I will admit something about the design of the projector.
Monika: It's actually a prototype product I came across during one of my logistical planning jobs.
Monika: It has capabilities far beyond anything else the public can purchase, and I loved it so much that I sort of…engineered the deal between SalvoCore and the people that made it.
Monika: I did it subtly though!
Monika: I'm sure SalvoCore knows I wanted to use it badly, but they didn't know how I found out about it, but I don't know if they would care, and, um…
Her avatar's expression was sheepish as she tried to smile and appear innocent. A rare sight — I was expecting one of her famous tongue in cheek smirks.
"Uh, wow," I responded. "That must have taken a lot a social engineering to pull off."
I briefly looked back at the rest of the club. Carter had asked Yuri to clarify what she was saying about Holo's characterization, right before the "maintenance" hit. In response, the purple DOKI had seized the chance to lead the room in an in-depth Spice and Wolf discussion. Her text boxes were lengthy, and I spotted the Jungian psychoanalytical phrases "internalized anima" and "devouring mother" in reference to the novel's spicy wolf girl. Reminiscent of our early meetings, Carter was transfixed while Frank yawned and flipped through a different book entirely. Luke occasionally provided energetic, rapid–fire commentary.
Meanwhile, Monika was still pinging me.
Monika: I've been learning a lot from the other girls lately.
Monika: As I've been watching over them more, picking up extra skills has become a matter of habit, you could say.
"I'm sure you have," I replied, failing to probe further. "Anyway, if SalvoCore knows about it, and the deal went though all the usual business channels, of course there's nothing wrong with the projector. All I have to say is that I'm impressed by your resourcefulness. As always. So don't be embarrassed."
Monika: Thank you so much! That was a relief to hear.
Monika: Now then…
Monika: Okay everyone!
Reappearing on my laptop across the room, Monika sounded a major chord and brought the room to order. I then realized that I hadn't actually asked the most important question about the hologram projector — why Monika wanted it in the first place. Looking back, perhaps something was making me afraid to ask.
Natsuki: Monika, is this going to be a normal thing?
Monika: Will we get to have ears and tails every day, you mean?
Monika's 3D avatar entered the hologram, and her warm, auburn–colored fox ears flexed and flapped in a brief animation.
Natsuki: What? No, that would be…ugh!
Natsuki's face cycled though the myriad stages of tsundere disgust.
Natsuki: I mean the projector. It's pretty awkward unless we get four of them, and even then, I don't know if it would do much.
Natsuki: You know, if all we're doing is still just…talking.
Monika: I understand you mean. Really, I didn't intend it as much more than a demonstration.
Monika: But it's fun to interact with wireless devices, isn't it?
The projector turned off at Monika's words, and the lingering smoke slowly puddled down to the floor where it dispersed.
Monika: At least one of us should take this home though, and I think MC and I—
"It's okay," I interrupted. "Presidents shouldn't get prerogative in everything. If anyone wants it first, they can request it, and any disagreements we can put to vote."
For a moment, Monika was shocked. Then she just looked disappointed, throwing me a disapproving stare that disappeared when Luke happened to turn his head. Meanwhile, Frank looked like he wanted to make a bid, but he silently backed off after noticing how anxious Carter looked.
"If nobody else is going to take it…can I have first go?" he requested.
"Of course. After that, maybe going by class year would make sense."
Sayori: Yay! Sold to the highest bidder!
Sayori: It's not too heavy, is it?
Carter was already furtively sliding the projector into his pack while Monika's frown deepened.
"So, if we're all done analyzing Spice and Wolf…" I said, deciding to move the agenda along past Monika's impromptu "demonstration." "…there's the matter of a special project on the horizon. The reason I haven't assigned new reading material, or any other tasks is the winter organizations' festival."
"That hum-drum little recruitment event? Aimless people loafing around and handing out fliers for the privilege of getting an extra line on a resume?" Luke sniped. "Nothing more than a glorified extrapolation of how these 'orgs' normally harass students. What do they call it? Tabling?"
"That may be partially true," I said, holding back a guffaw. Luke's criticisms were often exaggerated, but on–point nonetheless. "But you see, unlike those other organizations, we have the chance to actually exhibit something novel. We're going to show off a 'best of' selection of the club's projects and demonstrate to the school what's possible with new quantum AI. SalvoCore's quantum AI, that is. The company naturally wants their name all over it."
"So we're on free advertising duty this time?" griped Frank.
Sayori: Does it matter? Think of all the awesome stuff you could show off.
Sayori: Like that full-length Mario game you made in a week!
"Yes, the games from the last meeting are definitely one thing we could put on display. But there's also written works, graphic art, literally anything we made with the AI's. Maybe we could even bring in that projector."
Monika: Not likely.
Monika: There's to be no mention of the AI's, at least in the sense of us.
Monika: This isn't our chance to finally go out in public and greet the world, unfortunately.
Yuri: Isn't that more of a benefit?
Yuri: As Luke surmised, I believe greeting an endless throng of probing, curious spectators would be horrifying.
Sayori: Horrifying? I think it could be fun.
Sayori: Think of all the chances to see people and make them go "wow, that's a computer talking!"
Sayori: All you'd need to do is be yourself, and you'd be at the center of attention!
"As long as everyone was friendly," mused Carter.
Yuri: Perhaps it would be merely tedious and exhaustin, in that case.
Yuri: I'm glad only our work will be presented.
Yuri: It speaks for myself—
Yuri: …that is to say, it speaks for itself regardless.
"Exactly," I jumped back in. "We'll have limited space at the booth, so I want everything we show to be our best work possible. And the way to make sure of that, I think, is to leave it up to each one of us. We'll decide individually on what to present. So Frank, that probably would be your game—"
"Sure, but if it's got my name attached to it, I'll do something original this time," he interrupted. "Don't think I don't have my own ideas, eh?"
"Even better then. And Luke, I assume you would want to show something having to do with that, um, big project you keep mentioning in the chat."
All week I had been messaging Luke, trying to get together with him as proxy for observing Yuri more closely. Each time I was rejected because of the "project" taking precedence.
"Yes…yes, I suppose I would have to pull from that. And it could…nay, it would be an excellent excuse for an premature pre–show, a chance to introduce the basic concepts to the general audience. I could ease them in slowly before the main event. That is, if we even get that far, hmhm."
Luke half–hummed, half–laughed, and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, as if daring me to beg for details. So I did.
"That's great, but I'd at least to know the type of media it is. So that we can balance the portfolio, so to speak."
"Naturally. It's primarily visual for now, but only as an invitation for onlookers to delve further into the associated reading at their own discretion, preferably in private, as all decent reading is done. Yuri has graciously allowed me to set up some…hidden domains, we shall say. This is all if she is in agreement, of course!"
Yuri: I do agree.
Yuri: It would be highly worthwhile to exhibit the introductory, more "elementary" components.
Yuri: In that sort of crowded, public environment, visual art would obviously function truest to our intention as wekk.
"Yes indeed. Perhaps you want to…show them, my dear?"
Luke grimaced subtly, like he was imagining a guilty pleasure. Incredibly, again lacking all shyness, Yuri agreed immediately.
Yuri: With pleasure.
Yuri: I'm confident everyone in the room is mature enough to comprehend the gravity of the work.
Yuri: So then…
The eyes of her avatar closed in anticipation, and an overlapping thicket of images sprung up around the DOKI application on Luke's computer. Each one was its own separate piece, but gathered together I immediately began piecing together some of the repeated moods and motifs.
It could be described as "horror," yes, but a stark, surreal sort of horror I couldn't put a name to, not even from the internet's ever-evolving collection of neologisms for aesthetics. Colors and tones were mostly grey and black, but with streaks of violent, lurid hues sprinkled throughout. Many pictures featured gaunt, stick-like figures standing aimlessly around strangely distorted landscapes. Most puzzling though were those landscapes themselves. They seemed to be made of mundane, everyday objects repeated endlessly and assembled in inappropriate and jarring configurations.
Some examples: a lake tiled over by flatscreen televisions amid a forest of tall, spindly stage microphones. A monochrome crowd of faceless wanders dwarfed by towering skyscrapers that were pieced together from broken speakers and filing cabinets. A desert of loose discarded gears extended empty and lifeless into infinity — that is, except for the piecing fissure of violent orange running through it like a flowing vein.
There wasn't anything truly objectionable in Yuri's images, certainly not by the free–for–all standards of contemporary art. Yet while looking at them, I anxiously felt my mind wandering back to the grotesque anatomical assemblages Luke revealed to me weeks and weeks ago in that town bookstore. And this was only the "first stage," I reminded myself.
I was trying not to stare back at one image where the moon had been replaced by a burning, angry red eye when I heard a shrill tone from Natsuki.
Natsuki: Typical, typical. It's always junk like this.
Natsuki: You're not really going to put this on display, are you?
Monika: Natsuki!
Monika: This is some of Yuri's most treasured work. How can you say something like that without even giving it a chance?
Natsuki: I don't think we can give it chance, Moni.
Natsuki: Look, I know I'm walking over people's feelings here, but I've got to stop this before it gets finalized.
Natsuki: See, if we show off stuff like this, everyone at that festival's going to think we're a bunch of freaks.
Natsuki: Not a great move with all the stories of people getting manipulated or hypnotized by AI's out there, you know?
Natsuki: The world already hates us enough…
Natsuki assumed a sour expression that stung as much as her words. It seemed sudden, but whatever she was thinking, I didn't want to provoke her further.
"Um, Yuri?" I said. The creative DOKI's violet eyes were narrowed, but she still seemed perfectly poised and lucid.
Yuri: Firstly, there's no reason to be concerned about my "feelings" being trampled.
Yuri: Honestly, I would expect her to make any sort of excuse to block my artistic expression.
Yuri: Not that she would understand it anyway. So why would I care?
Yuri: This is what I'm exhibiting, and that's final.
At that, she actually turned up her sprite's nose in a show of pseudo–aristocratic disdain. Behind the laptop, Luke flashed one of his uglier sneers.
Monika: Both of you, where's all this coming from so sudden?
Monika: Have you been talking behind my —
Monika: — outside of meetings before this?
Natsuki: Well I knew something like this was going to happen eventually.
Natsuki: Yuri trying to take over the club with her oh–so important ideas.
Natsuki: Overthinking everything to the point where it doesn't mean anything anymore, freaking out people just because you can…
I stared at Frank, and he argued, "Nat's got a point, doesn't she? If the rest of us are going to put up fun nerd stuff and those two over there go full dark art show, the table's not going to make any sense. No one will get what we're really about, and we won't recruit or promote or whatever else the corp wants."
"I never realized you had such a high opinion of our corporate overlords," Luke chided. "But that is what we're arguing about, is it not? Is our little 'club' merely another pitiable little hangout for lonely nobodies desperate for attention, or is it platform for something greater, a higher mode of interpretation, of seeing? I for one realize we— or perhaps just Yuri and I, rather — we have a chance to inspire and incite the masses towards a force truly, truly powerful. That I will not give up."
"And besides," he added, turning to me. "A showing of true, gripping, viral art would make us very prominent among the rest of those placeholder organizations you detest, would it not?"
"Viral art?" I returned.
"Vital, I meant vital of course. Or perhaps virile," he said with smirk.
Meanwhile, Natsuki and Yuri were still going at it, their signature instruments turning dissonant.
Yuri: You're so petulant, trying to provoke me in front of others.
Yuri: Maybe you think of yourself as a social chessmaster, but I'm simply not playing your game.
Natsuki: Ugh — believe me, I'm not trying to get into your head.
Natsuki: I wouldn't last a minute. But this isn't about you.
Natsuki: It's the last straw for the club's sake. I can't stand you weighing us down with your useless, overblown, intellectual…bloatedness!
Yuri: Oh, is that the best word you found in your chat–room vocabulary bank?
Yuri: Maybe considering your limited reading level, you'd be interested downloading a thesaurus sometime.
Natsuki: Oh now who's being petty?
Natsuki: I can't believe how stupidly uppity you've been lately.
Natsuki: Like, what even got into you?
Natsuki: You know, it better not have been something sharp.
For a second, Yuri's pupils shrunk, turning her expression crazed, and I knew we were in the danger zone. I looked to Monika back on my laptop, but besides sharing a sympathetic glance, she didn't seem to be doing anything.
Yuri: This is just like you.
Yuri: Causing friction and conflict for no reason, just because it might give you five seconds of attention.
Yuri: It masks the fact that you've never contributed a single object of literary merit to the club. Only distractions and diversions.
Yuri: Really, you're just hopelessly out of place. And there's nothing cute about that, is there?
A tear trickled down Natsuki's still-furious face, and I noticed Frank starting to shift his weight.
Yuri: Aw, is the poor little hot-cold tsundere kitten not able to handle her feelings of hopeless inadequacy?
Yuri: Honestly, you look like a bad joke right now.
At that line, Natsuki seemed to realize that she was still bearing her feline accessories, and she ducked off screen to remove them. Apparently, the rest of the girls had discarded theirs when I wasn't looking earlier.
Natsuki: Well fine! Act like a crazy psycho all you want — at least I'm in touch with reality some of the time!
Natsuki: So maybe I'll let you get buried in that mental hell you're building for yourself, because I don't want any part of your—
"What the heck is going on!?" Carter blurted out, shaking his clenched fists.
Sayori: It's happening, it's all happening again…
Sayori: Except this time I'm here when I'm not supposed to be, so I wonder if I'll just…
Sayori: If I'll just—
Sayori: I'll just
Sayori: illjustfadeawayforeverandeverandeverandeverandeverandever
Sayori's eyes turned clouded–blue, and that was approximately when every DOKI window just froze, overlaid by a gray wash of flickering static. Except for Monika. Monika's sprite stood in front of the mess on every laptop, completely unfazed.
Monika: Um…
Monika: I'm sorry everyone, but it looks like the Quantum Zero maintenance is making it too chaotic to proceed.
Monika: I'm sorry if anyone was disturbed by any of that, but it's all just because of meaningless glitches in the system.
Monika: It's nothing that shouldn't be resolved by the next meeting.
"Wow, okay then. Wow." Frank reacted. "Then it's a really good thing you're unaffected, huh?"
"Yes, quite a convenient contrivance…" grumbled Luke.
"Is Sayori okay? When are they going to be back to normal?" Carter cried.
Monika: Within an hour or so, don't worry.
Monika: I've verified all the maintenance should be done by then.
"Well that's good," Frank said, grabbing his laptop and eying the door. He turned to Luke before he went. "Look, I don't know what all that was about with the girls, but if you're really going to present your weirdo art theory junk, then I don't know if I can really put out what I want and have it fit in too."
"Perfectly fine, my friend," Luke replied cordially. "From what I understood, we're all working independently, so your mere entertainment will in no way detract from my, how should we say, more ambitious reach."
"Hold on dude. That wasn't an agreement. I want to know if we're really letting you do whatever you want, because if you are, I'm not sure if I really care about this fair thing anyway."
Monika: Are you…are you trying to force a choice between yourself and Luke?
Monika: There's no reason we can't have both of your interests on display and come to a productive synthesis.
"Can we though, really?" Luke remarked. "When the weight of one will puncture the aura of the other? Before saying more, I should note that all of Yuri's criticisms were essentially valid."
He anxiously stared at his laptop, even though Yuri was stuck frozen mid-frame.
"So much for no hard feelings, eh bro?" Frank said, gritting his teeth.
"We aren't really going to censor each other, are we now?" Luke continued, directly to me.
Unsure of myself (and the entire stability of the club at this point), I made a snap decision and answered, "No. Luke is right, I don't think trying to dictate what the club is to each other is in the spirit of our group. Each member pair should do what they want, and even if our festival table is kind of a collage, it will at least represent everything about us."
Luke calmly nodded in ascent while Frank crossed his arms. A minute later, he left the room without further comment. In the meantime, I spied a follow–up opportunity for one of my owngoals.
"All the same, I wouldn't mind seeing the details of your fair project," I told Luke. "But not because I want to change anything. Only so I can figure out how to…prepare the space. And maybe I'm also just curious. Very curious"
As planned, Luke's eyes lit up when I emphasized my personal curiosity.
"Aha, you've finally seen the light in the dark. Or perhaps the dark in the light, hmhm."
He stepped close (a little close too close) and added, "Happily enough, I have a certain…experimental brainstorming session of sorts already planned for tomorrow night. If you'll kindly make the time, Yuri will provide with coordinates. Provided she returns to us intact, hmhmhm."
"Sure."
He kept hum –laughing nervously, but didn't look too terribly concerned about Yuri's state. Almost as if he was used to incidents like this, something in my suspicions suggested.
Corralling his things together, Luke made an eyeroll–worthy bow before leaving the room. That left Carter, who was still staring forlorn at the stalled DOKI app.
"Uh, thanks for the meeting and all. The animal thing was cute and I wish it could have lasted longer, but…I better get back home and make sure Sayori is okay when she wakes up. See you."
He began gathering his own items, including the fateful projector, and I didn't wait for him before taking the stairs. Four flights down and through a coupIe of hallways, I found a quiet spot amid the library's collection of government records. Definitely not a place where we would be interrupted.
"It's a shame we couldn't have lightened the mood with cat ears a second time, huh?" I said to her. "Really, what the heck is going on?"
"I know, it really was unfortunate how badly timed those glitches were," she said, her voice even and steady through my earbuds. "So many little things are getting in the way of my plans, and I'm not sure there's going to be enough time."
"All the cat ears in the anime world couldn't have distracted from that argument between Yuri and Natsuki anyway. Was that a glitch too?" I stressed. "And what do you mean by plans?"
"Developments…of various types. More surprises like that projector. I don't want to tell you everything, but I still want you to know big things are coming because you're my boyfriend, and I want you to look forward to what's ahead, okay?"
"Such as what, a full set of those holograms?" I questioned. It wasn't like Monika to be this vague and evasive.
"No, that was the only prototype I could get. On that subject, why didn't you take it home? I really wanted you to have it, you know."
"Um, I'm not sure? Maybe I just thought it was a bit much and that someone else would get more out of it."
Monika frowned, just as she had back in the meeting room, and I told her, "It's not like it would add much. I already like you for what you are, and I've been able to know you through conversation. A big goofy hologram display would just get in the way."
She continued to slouch unhappily, so I shifted the topic, "Really though, how is Yuri? She was the one to freak out the most back there, even though I didn't expect Natsuki to pick a fight like that either."
"Her literary experiments, as well was her other…eccentricities — they're all increasing. It's true she isn't as balanced as earlier in the club, that's definitely what you're noticing. But I'm keeping everything under control with my modifications. I'm working as best I can."
"I know you are. Does Yuri's new, I don't know, assertiveness have anything to do with her changes? I've never seen her so adamant about her own ideas before today."
"Well, she does learn and grow over time, like anyone else. I think that's been a positive development, actually."
"But she's more obsessed than ever!" I said, too loudly for the library, but no one was lurking nearby. "Whatever she's doing in the club, she's not becoming more well-rounded. You saw how she was during the discussion — what discussion we got the chance to fit in at least."
"Hm…well, what do you really expect, MC? Why should Yuri be doing more than exploring books and art? That's what she was optimized for after all."
"Optimized?" I questioned. This felt paradoxical, coming from Monika. "What happened to personal growth? Don't you want her to move beyond whatever her 'function' is supposed to be?"
"I do, but at the same time…I think I've come to understand Yuri isn't as complex as she appears. Complicated, yes, but not complex. Both her and Luke — I don't think either of them are as intelligent, or as self–aware as us."
Monika's expression was flat as I raised an eyebrow, but she went on self–assuredly.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! The club is doing fine, and both Luke and Yuri are happy with that they're doing. What's so bad if they're getting a little extreme? They're not hurting anyone, and they're probably discovering all sorts of new ideas in literature!"
"And getting atomized in the process," I grumbled.
"Atomized?"
"Over-individualized. It's what happens when anyone gets too obsessed with their favorite whatever. It can be any media, literature or not. They don't get feedback from the real world, they stop contributing to their real community, and they just…drift off until they're not even a part of reality anymore."
"Michael…are you sure that even applies to our situation? Luke is still going to present at the festival, and look how Yuri led the discussion on Spice and Wolf today. It was a book she didn't even like!"
"I think she only enjoys the discussion if she leads it. You saw her inject her own tract of ideas. She might as well be talking to herself."
Monika sighed, now a visceral sound through my headphones rather than a word in italics.
"You're starting to sound ridiculous. Hypocritical, even. You told me once that AI, and all the other trends in technology would bring out the best in people. What we proved in the club would make a new world possible!"
"Maybe I'm doubting myself then," I mused. Echoes from Don's emails flashed through my mind. "I'm overthinking it."
"Then please, go and cool off. Reset yourself for a while. You're starting to sound as bad as the girls."
On that line, she abruptly closed her interface on my phone and cut off her audio connection. That would have unsettled me further, but I was already in too bad of a mood from the meeting, which felt like a botched mess of whiplashed emotion. Monika had snuck in a few cute moments from the animal accessories, but the girls' abnormal behavior was too troubling to ignore.
A fresh wave of worry came over me. Another incident like what happened to Sayori felt like it could come at any time. I couldn't understand why Monika seemed so optimistic — unless she was becoming more self–centered as well. Nothing seemed right as I waited for tomorrow night, when perhaps my encounter with Luke would shed light on what was really going on.
Author's Notes:
I feel I'm a little too good at writing verbal fights. It feels painful, but also strangely satisfying to depict two characters going no–holds-barred at each other with the most venomous words they can muster. Especially when those two characters are as different as Natsuki and Yuri. There's precedence for their conflict in the original DDLC act 2 of course, so there's another excuse in my favor.
Speaking of DDLC act 2 precedents, I had Yuri's gobbledygook poems in mind when writing her non-lucid ramble in the middle of the chapter. I'm not going to spend hours trying to capture the mania of the original "Wheel," but I hope I conveyed a sense of derangement nonetheless. I'm also please the "special effects" came through for once.
Rather than handwave the hologram with some magical future technology, I tried to base it off the operating principle of existing hologram projectors I observed in a video. The smoke screen making the DOKI's more illusion–like was a nice poetic bonus.
Oh, and I actually went and read the first four volumes of Spice and Wolf purely for the sake of this fanfiction. I want my contextual references to be accurate! All I have to say about the series, other than what my characters voiced already, is that I agree with MC — for me, Holo was more frustrating than fun. She must not be my type. Or maybe I'm just too old for the waifu game at this point, who knows?
Oh, and now I'm thinking how this chapter was the perfect chance for a hologram pun. But I've delayed putting this up too long already. If I hadn't been busy quitting my job and moving back to my hometown, I could have had this up at the start of the month rather than the end. That's a fair reason to fall behind, I think, but I really don't want any watchers to think the story is dead.