15.1 – Role Reversal, by Wookywok.
It was going to happen sooner or later.
There were an infinite number of scenarios that a Branch could go through, and an infinite amount of time for them to occur. Honestly, the only thing that should have surprised Monika was that this hadn't occurred sooner.
And yet, here she was, on the other side of the proverbial hole in the wall, very surprised indeed.
Yes, this loop, Monika was sitting in front of a laptop, playing a certain dating simulating visual novel entitled Doki Doki Literature Club.
"Well," she said to nobody in particular as she stared blankly at the title screen, "I might as well start a new game. With any luck, at least somebody will be Awake."
15.2 – Rock Out, Sisters!
(DDLC)/(Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Yuri was just minding her own business, putting the finishing touches on a calligraphy print of a poem she had written earlier that morning. She was thinking of giving it to Sayori. She liked poems about butterflies. With the final brushstroke done, Yuri laid down her writing implement and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. Technologically underdeveloped though it was, she was enjoying this world so far. The area she lived in, and the entire known world as far as her loop memories told her, had a Far East Earth cultural aesthetic. Mostly Chinese, in the case of the area she lived in.
Some people in this world were able to, essentially, telekinetically manipulate one of the four Classical elements with kung-fu. Yuri wasn't one of these "benders", as they were called. She lived in a city called Omashu, which was in the Earth Kingdom. She often started loops in other worlds living alone, or with Natsuki as a roommate, but this time around it was Sayori she was living with, in a house ner the outer edge of the city. They were both working as servers at a teahouse in town. Today was her day off, so she was taking it easy.
Yuri moved into the kitchen to make herself some tea. The sky was clear, birds were singing, and the breeze carried the scent of spring flowers in through the open window from all the way outside of the city. All in all, today was a good day.
Then a rock crashed into her living room through the ceiling.
Yuri just stood there, on the border between her kitchen and her living room, with a teacup in her hands, staring in subdued surprise at the rather large rock sitting before her. It was, going by eyeball-measurement, a little smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle. Given the size, she had a suspicion that something was going to come out of it. About five minutes later, no such thing had happened. Instead, her door burst open. Yuri turned to see who was visiting.
"Oh. Hello, Natsuki. Care to explain why you decided to bombard my home?" Yuri asked her friend impassively before taking a long sip of her tea.
Natsuki, much more visibly shocked, stared back at her. "Huh. You're not going to believe this, Yu, but this is an honest-to-God coincidence. I was aiming for Bumi's place."
"The king of Omashu? Why?"
"Practice!" spoke up another girl that stepped in behind Natsuki. "Nice trajectory, Cupcake, but we really need to work on your aim."
Natsuki facepalmed and groaned, "Foot-vision notwithstanding, it's really grating to hear that from a blind person."
"Don't I know it," said the other girl with a grin. With a casual gesture, like throwing an invisible ball backwards over her shoulder, she sent the rock flying right back up through the hole in the ceiling. Then, with more intricate gestures executed with an equally casual demeanor, all of the stone debris flew up and mended the ceiling. Houses in Omashu were largely composed of earthenware, to the point that earthbenders were far more involved in home repairs than carpenters. Within seconds, the girl had removed any and all evidence that anything had happened at all. Then she turned to face Yuri, though she didn't look up at her, and stuck her hand straight out. "Toph Beifong, World's Greatest Earthbender. How do ya do?"
"I'm Yuri," replied Yuri, shaking Toph's hand. "You're a friend of Natsuki's?"
"Her earthbending sifu, actually. Your little buddy here has mad potential and, I gotta say, I really dig her attitude. She reminds me of a much, much younger me," said Toph with a winning grin.
"I am six years older than you," Natsuki groaned.
"And yet, not an inch taller," Toph quipped back, patting her on the head. Indeed, her and Natsuki were pretty damn close in height despite the former's apparent youth.
"Natsuki? Is Toph, um…" Yuri drew loops in the air with her finger.
"Crazy? Most sources would say, 'yes, definitely…crazy awesome that is'," said Toph without missing a beat. Also, without looking at her.
"Don't forget crazy full of yourself," said Natsuki with a catty smirk. To that, Toph simply smiled and shrugged. Turning to Yuri, Natsuki added, "And yes, Toph's a Looper."
"How did you meet?" Yuri asked.
She felt a small quiver of trepidation when Toph and Natsuki simultaneously broke out mile-wide grins.
Flashback Sequence!
Some months earlier, in the arena of Earth Rumble VI, the cutthroat Master of Ceremonies Xin Fu held up a heavy, coin-stuffed pouch. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Bli–"
"Let me at her!" screamed a shrill voice from the stands. Elsewhere in the stands, Aang, Katara, and Sokka (of whom only Sokka was presently Awake) all turned around to look at the girl who had spoken. She was only slightly taller than The Blind Bandit, wearing sandals, shorts, and a jacket with a hood pulled over her head. The hood had two triangles perched on top, reminiscent of cat ears. She slammed her fists together, which pulverized the stone under her feet into sand; she lifted her hands, raising the sand and herself with it. Everyone watched in awe as the girl on the sand 'cloud' drifted almost lazily towards the arena. Dangling from her backside was a length of rope attached to her shorts, clearly meant to be a tail.
The girl lowered herself gently down to the arena, shifting into a confident stride towards Xin Fu and Toph without any visible loss of momentum. "My name is Sand-Cat," the girl announced loudly, "But y'all can call me The Baker, because I aim to batter this creampuff."
'Ooh's and 'Aah's echoed throughout the stadium, and Sokka raised an eyebrow of intrigue. Xin Fu, smelling money, smiled broadly. Toph, however, frowned. "I'm sorry, what did you call me?!"
Sand-Cat chuckled. "Sorry, guess I heard your name wrong. Thought you were The Blind Bandit; not The Deaf Desperado."
"Oooooohhhhhhhh!" roared the audience.
"Xin Fu, get out of the ring," Toph growled, tossing her belt back to him and striking her fighting pose.
Sand-Cat shrugged off her jacket and threw it aside; under she was wearing a sleeve-less gi and a half-mask depicting a demonic cat. She crouched down and buried her hand in the ground, ripping up a stone club covered in knobs. A weapon that was associated with the oni of Japanese folklore, Sokka recalled. The kanabo was a little longer than Sand-Cat was tall, but she spun it in her hand with ease. Then, suddenly, she stopped approaching and gave a bloodcurdling yowl before raising one leg as high as she could and slamming her foot down. Toph's expression went from grim determination to stark surprise as most of the ring turned into sand; there was enough solid stone around the edges to keep the ring from spilling out.
Shouldering her weapon, Sand-Cat sprang forward. Rather than hampering her, the sand underfoot seemed to be springboarding her forth. In seconds she had closed the distance between them and swung at Toph's head. Toph raised a hand and a spire of earth shot up out of the sand to slow down the swing while Toph ducked. The spire was almost two feet thick, but the club blew through it like it was paper. Forming a tiger claw with her hand, Sand-Cat thrust her palm forward; a wave of sand blasted Toph backwards. Toph raised a hand of sand to catch arrest her flight, and with a roar she started throwing punches at the air, sending a barrage of sandstone missiles out of the sand and flying at Sand-Cat.
Toph's aim was off, due to the sand obscuring her seismic sense, so most of her shots flew wide of the mark. The rest, Sand-Cat deflected with her club. Then she threw out her hand and pulled it back in, and the hand of sand Toph had used as a brake lurched forward, dragging her towards the masked fighter. Sokka actually stood up in his seat. Sand-Cat grinned wickedly, holding up her club and pointing it at Toph's on-coming chest.
Then Toph Woke Up.
She raised a hand, and the sandwall pushing her forward ground to a halt. She closed her hand into a fist, and the sand condensed back into stone. From her fist, she flicked a single finger upward, and a small rock shot out of the ground with the speed of a bullet and smacked Sand-Cat in the chin with the force of a Shoryuken. It actually lifted her up off of her feet. Next, Toph lowered that finger so it was pointing at her opponent, and thrust it an inch forward. The stone slammed into Sand-Cat's chest and kept going, pushing her all the way out of the ring.
The entire sequence of events took a span of two and a half seconds.
Sand-Cat wasn't out of the fight just yet, however. Her club melted into sand and swirled around her feet, and with it she guided herself back to the ring.
Toph smiled at her. "You're good, kid. Not many have ever come that close to getting one up on me. Did you know how the sand would affect me, or was that a fluke?"
"…huh?" asked Sand-Cat.
"Fluke it is, then. Look, you got lucky, kid. Really threw me for a loop. But I'm wide awake now, and all the luck in any number of universes isn't going to help you when I'm at the top of my game. Save yourself some embarrassment and bow out while you can. Whattaya say?" Toph asked, her tone calm and measured.
"I say…that a sandstorm doesn't abate, just because you ask it to. You either ride it out, or your die. I spent seven years in the desert perfecting my Sand-Cat Style earthbending art, and the desert dried out all of my mercy," Sand-Cat growled. She struck a pose; more of a posing pose than an actual fighting pose, Sokka thought. "Now come and face the Jaws of Defeat, Blind Bandit!"
'Ahh…she's posturing,' Sokka realized.
Toph smirked in reply. She started cracking her knuckles. "The Blind Bandit steals victory from the jaws of defeat, Kitten. Let's dance!"
And with that, the two earthbending Loopers went all-out. Or, rather, Toph made it look like she was going all-out. She could tell by Sand-Cat's demeanor that she understood she had no chance of winning, so now she was just having fun. A much, much younger Toph, who still felt she had something to prove to the world, would have ended the fight as quickly and crushingly as possible. Toph the Looper, on the other hand, was more than happy with dragging the fight out and she was having a ball doing so.
Waves of sand shaped like lion heads slammed into boulders sculpted to resemble Toph's face making various silly expression. Geysers of sand erupted out of the ring, Toph dodging them at the last possible second, while Sand-Cat jumped up on a cloud of floating sand to avoid grasping hands of solid rock. At one point, they closed to melee range and briefly turned their earthbending match into a kung-fu display of Chu Gar Southern Mantis Style against Black Tiger Fist Style. Then they both cycled through a few different martial arts before jumping away from each other and going back to lobbing earth at each other. At one point, a stone dart thrown by Toph shattered Sand-Cat's mask, revealing her bright pink hair. Despite the trickle of blood spilling from her forehead, she was grinning wider than ever.
Then, at some unspoken agreement, it truly became a Looper fight, when Natsuki flew up into the air without the aid of sand, and fired a ki blast down at Toph. Without missing a beat, Toph stomped her foot, instantly engraving a complex transmutation circle into the ground around her. Sparks flew as a shell of diamond sprang up around her. Natsuki's attack still blew it to pieces, but when the dust settled Toph was nowhere to be seen.
Then Toph appeared in a flicker, directly above her, armed with a metal club. Before Natsuki could react, she was smacked down into the ring. A moment later, Toph gently landed next to the crater Natsuki had made. "Had enough abuse, Kitten?" she asked smugly.
"Like hell!" Natsuki's voice rang out of the crater. Then she exploded out of the ground, lunging at Toph with a fist encased in flames, which then swirled into the form of a burning drill. "Spiraling Ripple Technique: Scarlet Over-Drill Breaker!"
Toph's grin only grew.
…
Lao and Poppy Beifong both screamed and jumped back as a badger-mole burst up through their floor. Their daughter Toph was riding on its back, along with a pink-haired girl they didn't recognize. They both looked they had just fought the entire Fire Nation (especially Toph, who's clothes were singed) and, judging by their huge smiles, won.
"Mother. Father," Toph greeted them off-handedly, "So, hey, I'm actually a master earthbender. Like, literally the best one there's ever been or ever will be."
"And she's modest, too!" quipped the pink-haired girl.
"And I'm not as blind and helpless as you think. I can actually 'see' everything that happens around me by reading vibrations through the earth, like a badger-mole. Because I learned how to earthbend from badger-moles. And I can beat up guys twice my age and three times my size. I actually do it all the time, because I'm also the Earth Rumble's reigning champion, The Blind Bandit. Anyways, this is my new buddy, Natsuki, and she's got a lot of potential, so I'm taking her under my wing as my newest earthbending apprentice. And training at home is sucky and boring, so we're going off on a crazy adventure. We'll probably kick the Fire Nation's ass–yes, I said ass–and stop this silly war while we're out and about. So that'll be fun. Anyways, you couldn't stop me even if you sicced the entire Earth Kingdom army after us, so…see ya!"
"Team Tophsuki is Outsuki," added Natsuki. She and Toph shared a fistbump before their epic mount burrowed back underground.
A moment later, Lao fainted into Poppy's arms.
…
"And it's just been a regular shenanigan-filled road trip ever since," concluded Toph, swallowing one of Natsuki's scones and washing it down with a swig of Yuri's tea. It was a pretty good combination, she had to admit.
"Sound's awesome!" gushed Sayori, who had gotten home around halfway through the story.
"But why were you trying to bombard King Bumi's palace with rocks?" asked Yuri.
"Cuz someone's gotta keep that old loony on his toes," Toph said with a chuckle. "He knows how I roll and he's a good sport about it."
"Any sign of Monika?" Sayori asked Natsuki.
"Nada. But Toph was filling me in on the locals, and if she's here Replacing someone, I think I've got a good guess as to who," replied Natsuki. "How would you two feel about taking a fun-filled trip to the sunny Fire Nation?"
"Can we ride a badger-mole?" asked Sayori excitedly.
"Sure!" said Toph.
Yuri stood up and sighed. "I'll start packing…"
As she left the table, its three occupants laughing uproariously at something one of them had said, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'These three are going to exhaust me.'
15.3 – Curses, by Masterweaver.
"...Nats, I just had a strange thought."
"Nothing new there, Yuri."
"Follow me on this. A lot of fantasy settings will have people swearing with a specific pattern: god's name body part. Like, by Zeus's beard, or great eye of Odin, stuff like that."
"Okay...?"
"And, functionally speaking, Monika is effectively a goddess in our reality."
"Oh no."
"So... and this literally came out of nowhere, just randomly drifted into my head... we start using Monika's Tits as a swear."
"...Damn it, now I'm thinking about it!"
15.4 – Gay Old Time, by Masterweaver.
"...is this offensive?" Natsuki asked nobody in particular. "I mean, it feels like it could be offensive."
"The answer to that depends on whether you consider stereotypes to be automatically offensive by virtue of being stereotypes."
"...what."
Monika shrugged. "On the one hand, stereotypes are generally constructed by outside observers of the stereotyped group and usually based on demeaning qualities of some outspoken members of said group, as well as the personal prejudices of the observers in question. Then again, stereotypes only propagate with enforcement, either by the outside group or by members of the observed, and therefore as societies in general become more accepting of that outside their perceived norm the outside observers grow quiet, leaving only the group themselves to propagate the stereotype by acting it out. But that leaves the question of whether the propagated stereotype is a more pure representation of the group, or whether it retains elements of the original derogatory stereotype by force of social inertia-"
"Monika, I was not asking for a dissertation. I'm just asking if Sayori prancing about in rainbow clothes, wearing ludicrous amounts of bangles and earrings, and calling us all cute counts as something we personally should be offended by."
Yuri hummed thoughtfully. "Well, she could be gay in the old English sense, where gay is merely a synonym for happy. Sayori's kind of cutesy in baseline anyway, this could just be an extension of her celebrating a loop where she is not suffering from depression."
"Is Gayori even a real word?" Natsuki asked. "I mean, sure, I'm happy for pun loops that don't involve me for once, but-"
"Leis for everyone!" Sayori cheered, throwing flowery necklaces on them as she danced by.
"...Nats," Yuri said eventually, "I think you're overthinking this. Sayori is happy and she's not mocking anyone, so let's just let her have her fun."
Natsuki sighed. "Fine, whatever. I'm going to go read... something, I guess."
15.5 – Yawnika, by Masterweaver.
"...Monika?"
The brunette jerked, blinking rapidly. "Don't put me in Smash Bros!"
"...Ignoring that," Sayori said. "Are you feeling loopy?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm well anchored, Sayori, why?"
"It's just... we're all still 2D. Are you not, um... going to update this loop?"
"Huh?" Monika frowned. "Oh. Right. That, I'm sorry, I... I don't know what it is, but I just..." Her eyes began to flutter, but she shook her head. "I can't seem to stay awake, and it'd be irresponsible, for me to touch the code when..."
Her head drooped to her chest, and a moment later a mumbled snore emerged.
"...Narcolepsy?" Yuri asked.
"Yawnika," Natsuki replied with a groan.
Sayori sighed. "Well... let's let her sleep for the loop, alright? It's not like it's too bad. We can live like this for a bit."
15.6 – Space Age Brotherhood, by Boohoooo!
'Well, this is certainly new...' HUE thought dully, looking over his human body. Gary murmured about cookies in his sleep, making HUE chuckle fondly.
"Rise and shine!" Yuri's voice permeated through the Galaxy One.
"Ughhh.. How about frickin' no?" Gary complained. Him and HUE were promptly launched out of their beds to the floor.
"Well, now I know why Gary hates that..." HUE mused, getting up and rubbing his head.
"Ugh, this place sucks, brother o' mine." Gary whined as the duo had breakfast. HUE was taken aback. He and Gary were... Brothers? Being an AI most of the time, HUE had obviously never had siblings. He teared up, his emotions all mixed up.
"You ok?" Gary asked in concern. He then looked up.
"DANG IT, DOKIES! YOU HURT MY BROTHER! CURSE YOU, YA WITCHY CONTRAPTIONS!" Gary snapped. Gary was promptly zapped by a y-shaped taser, falling unconscious.
"Overboard much, Yuri?" Natsuki deadpanned.
"Soooo.. Are you friends with Nightfall?" HUE interrupted the impending bickering.
"No, why?" Sayori kindly asked.
"Well, she seems like the most likely candidate to cause all these time restarts, although I have no idea how the heck she turned me into a human." HUE shrugged. There was a moment of silence.
"HUE, we need to talk." Monika explained. HUE raised an eyebrow.
One Welcome to the Multiverse Speech later...
"That's... Quite a bit to take in." HUE commented, blinking slowly.
"Hell to the yeah it is! I knew the universe was crazy, BUT BEJEEBUS!" Gary commented. He had woken up a while ago and faked his unconsciousness. HUE sighed.
"We'll let you two talk things out..." Sayori awkwardly coughed.
"Gary, I know hearing you've died 66 times is.. Alot..." HUE sighed, having mentioned his experiences to Monika. However, he was interrupted by a hug.
"HUE, I know you did all you could, 'cause you're the best. I'M sorry you had to experience this so many times. I can't WAIT to start Looping myself! Think of the adventures, bro, THE ADVENTURES!" Gary rambled. HUE smiled and hugged Gary back.
"I'm excited too, Gary..." HUE chuckled.
"Awwwww.. SO SWEET!" Sayori sniffled.
"Gah! I thought you were LEAVING?!" Gary glared.
"We're the ship's AI. We can't go anywhere." Yuri pointed out.
"...I won't miss you guys." Gary grumbled.
"I will!" KVN smiled, slapping Gary's butt.
"GOD DAMN IT KVN!" Gary roared, chasing the robot off. HUE smiled.
Next Loop...
HUE sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness I'm an AI again... Being a human sucked." HUE muttered.
"Gee, thanks, HUE!" Gary sarcastically grumbled.
"Sorry Gary. Except not really." HUE laughed.
"Yeah.. Brother." Gary smirked. HUE was silent.
"Gary.. You're.." He began.
"Looping?! Hell to the yeah! LET'S GO RIP THE LORD COMMANDER APART!" Gary laughed.
"Gary, you can't just be that powerful your very first Loop." HUE pointed out.
"Awwww.. Why not?!" Gary whined.
As the duo bickered, all was right with the universe.
15.7 – Perfection, by Masterweaver.
"...Yuri?"
"Yes Natsuki?" Yuri asked politely, her voice reverberating through the room.
"...okay, I was going to ask about the teal hair, but now I have even more questions."
"Oh, this? It's just a little something I picked up in a variant loop-"
Monika rushed in, slamming Yuri onto a desk. "NOPE! We talked about this, Yuri, you don't get to do this."
"But-"
"Change back or I'll MAKE you change back!"
Yuri's sigh made the windows rattle, and she complied, her hair going to purple. "Look, Monika," she grumbled, "I had it completely under control."
"We are not bringing that kind of transformation into this loop," Monika said firmly, releasing her grip. "We don't need that kind of drama."
Natsuki looked between them. "Uh... care to fill me in?"
"Well-"
"No," Monika cut Yuri off. "No, this is filed under 'shit we do not talk about ever without a licensed looping therapist present.'" She stalked toward the front of the room.
15.8 – Self-Awareness, by Masterweaver.
It was a slow realization. It started with a look of confusion. Then, contemplation. Then, slowly, a horrified stare at the wall.
It wasn't until Natsuki suddenly jerked, throwing her manga across the room with a loud cry of "FUCK!" that the other three looked up from their own books.
"...See, this is why I suggested more creative swearing," Yuri said dryly. "We're using 'fuck' a lot. Way too much, honestly. Far be it from me to deny the versatility of the word, but as a self-proclaimed bastion to the literary arts we should be able to come up with much more memorable curses."
Natsuki didn't even react, breathing as heavily as she was.
"...Nats?" Sayori asked. "What's... going on?"
"I'm the designated why girl, that's what's going on."
The others shared a look.
"...Care to elaborate?"
"'Why should we trust Monika?' 'Why do we keep Hiroaka around?' 'Why are we cuttlefish?' That's what I do, I ask the questions so other people can exposit. And... and that's the stupidest character to be!" Natsuki exploded, storming across the room. "It's like, every time I read a manga somebody has to ask, and all through the explanation I'm like 'come on though, that was obvious' except apparently I do that to, I'm the one being the idiot so that nobody else has to, and it fucking sucks!"
"Well, to be fair, I ask why a lot too," Yuri pointed out. "I mean, it's more the technical side of things, why we have limitations and the whole sleeping thing, but-"
"No, see, that makes sense. That's asking technical stuff that we can't all be expected to know. I'm the one that asks the stuff that should be obvious to anyone with a degree of psychological schooling which, because we are a loop that is literally all about exploring psychological possibilities, we all already have! Why am I the stupid one-SEE?! I DID IT AGAIN!" Natsuki grabbed her manga and started banging her face with it. "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID-"
"Hey! Whoa!" Monika rushed over and grabbed her wrist. "Whoa, whoa, hold on! You're not stupid, Nats-"
"No, I'm not stupid, I just regularly happen to hold the idiot ball!"
"No, listen to me. You're right, this loop is all about exploring psychological possibilities, which means we need somebody to ask the questions-"
"Somebody to be the idiot who doesn't get it-"
"No, somebody to challenge the unwritten assumptions. Like..." Monika fumbled for a bit. "Like, yes, you all needed to ask why you trusted me. And you were willing to ask that, so that we could think about it. You're not dumb, you're... a scientist! Well, okay, psychology is one of the softer sciences but it is still a science."
Natsuki groaned. "Oh, great, so I go from being an ordinary idiot to being an idiot in a labcoat. Whoopee!"
"Then we can wear stupid labcoats together," Yuri assured her with a gentle hug. "I think we'd be great mad scientists."
"...Holy shit," Sayori loudly whispered in awe, "you totally would."
"Are any of you taking my angst seriously?!" Natsuki demanded. "Because this serious angst here!"
"Well... I mean, I am," Monika admitted. "But... I'll admit I'm confused as to why you're angsting? Because you're demonstrably not stupid. Ignorant, maybe, but not stupid. You picked up on Yuri in baseline, and in the loops... well, you're crafty and a lot more cunning than some people give you credit for. And you don't ask questions that aren't important."
Natsuki sighed. "I... I don't know, I mean... I know you're saying something that's probably true, it just... I don't like feeling like I'm the class idiot."
Sayori sighed. "Nats... one of the big problems I face is actually listening to people when they say 'Sayori's good people.' Everybody sees their own flaws more strongly than their strengths, but... for me, there's a lot of... baggage that makes it harder. So some days, I find it difficult to actually believe people when they say something nice about me. That doesn't make it any less true."
"...I guess..." Natsuki sighed again. "Whatever. I don't... I need to think about this, okay?"
"...Sure." Yuri held her tighter. "You do that."
15.9 – …Socratsuki?
(15.8 cont.)
The next day, Natsuki got to the clubroom and found only Monika sitting there, tuning up her piano. "Hey, Prez. Where's Yuri? It's not like her to be late."
"Yuri's taking the day off to work on her motorcycle collection, and Sayori volunteered to help her," explained Monika.
"Oh. Well, uh...what are-"
"Do you remember the gadfly talk we had, some something-hundred-thousand-something years ago?" Monika asked off-handedly. Or, so she made it seem at least.
Natsuki blinked, and turned her eyes up thoughtfully. "Gadfly talk...you mean when I had that semi-breakdown and you asked me to give you a psychological kick in the rump every so often?"
"Well I remember it being a rather full-blown breakdown, but whatever helps you with those image issues of yours," said Monika.
Exhaling sharply through her nose, Natsuki huffed, "Your point?"
"Do you remember who I told you came up with the social gadfly concept?"
Natsuki wracked her memory again. "Some guy named Sock-something?"
"Socrates," Monika patiently corrected.
"Yeah, one of them crusty old Greek dudes. What about-fuck me, you wanna talk some deep philosophy crap again, and your usual victims aren't available so you've gotta take it out on me," Natsuki groaned.
Monika suddenly went still. She straightened up and laid her tuning instruments down on the nearest table. Turning to face Natsuki and wiping at her forehead with a handkerchief, she remarked, "I didn't realize you had something against philosophy."
"I don't have anything against philosophy," Natsuki refuted, dropping her bookbag on a desk and sitting down. "I just don't care for long-winded discussions full of obnoxious, try-hard words. That kind of crap is for wordy bastards like Yuri or pompous eggheads like you. I'm a simple girl and proud of it. When I've got a point to make I make it and carry on my merry way."
"Sayori likes to think of herself as a simple girl, but she likes philosophy," Monika countered.
"Alright, fine, I get it. Again, I'm the club dum-dum that-THE FUCK?!" Natsuki shouted, ducking when Monika suddenly threw a book at her.
"That was a warning shot," Monika said calmly, picking up a water bottle and taking a sip. "You've had more than enough time to get over that one. Next time you self-depreciate in my presence, unless it's about some new issue, I'm not going to miss."
"Geez. What was that about? I've never seen you throw a book at the others," Natsuki grumbled.
"Sayori's clinically depressed and Yuri's a...Yuri. It's normal for them to stew in their issues from time to time. For Sayori it's something she can't just get over and needs to be gently supported throughout. With Yuri, it's a natural part of how she processes things; she only needs an intervention when her emotions boil over and she starts lashing out. You're not like that, Natsuki. When something bothers you, you blow up over it. Then you decide to do something about it, or you get the hell over it. I don't have any qualms about using tough love when you're being a melodramatic baby," Monika explained unemotionally.
"...well. Fair enough, I guess," Natsuki said at length. "Well, what's on your mind then?"
"Take a look at that book," said Monika, picking up her tools and going back to tuning her piano.
"The one you threw?" Natsuki asked rhetorically as she picked up said book. The title was 'The Socratic Method: How to Question Pretty Much Everything.' Natsuki gave Monika's back a dirty look. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Not at all. After your...little episode...yesterday, I felt like I could have responded to it better. As I very often do. So I thought about it, and figured I'd clarify and reinforce what I said by sharing this with you. An introduction to the methodology of one of Philosophy's greatest forerunners and a personal hero of mine."
Natsuki 'hmm'ed and tentatively opened the book. "So what's this got to do with yesterday, anyways?"
"You assumed, quite wrongly, that your tendency to ask 'the obvious questions', as you put it, made you an idiot. Or a chronic idiot ball holder, at least," Monika explained, "Socrates was a very intelligent person born in an age when 'philosophy', such as it was, largely consisted of a bunch of braggarts riding high on their own bullshit. Most philosophers back then would spin up their own belief system that satisfied their own worldview and taut its efficacy as loudly as they could. And because some of them happened to be brilliant orators who knew how to work a crowd, and because critical thinking and logical argument weren't as widely developed as life skills back in those days as it is now, this brand of manure-laden 'philosophy' got pretty far in its day. Then along came Socrates."
"See, Socrates didn't start out knowing that the so-called wise men he aspired to be equal to were actually idiots. He started out as one of the masses. When he was old enough, he set out on a journey to learn from the masters. But since he was so intelligent and had an intuitive grasp of logic-which is to say that he was blessed with basic common sense-he noticed that the widely-accepted philosophies of the day were rife with inconsistency and logical fallacies. Equally as important as his intellect, he had the audacity to question the so-called wise men. One by one, he questioned their beliefs, their methods, and even their motivations. One by one, the philosophers he idolized failed to satisfy his questions and left him with the disturbing realization that he was already smarter than them, if not as experienced."
"I'm sure that didn't go to his head at all," Natsuki remarked dryly.
"It really didn't, actually," said Monika, catching Natsuki by surprise. "Socrates wasn't just a clever smart-aleck. He was also very self-aware. Even as he realized how smart he was, he was painfully aware that he didn't understand the world any better than the men he had debunked. He came to realize what is now known as the Socratic Paradox: "I know that I know nothing". Of course, it needs to be noted that there are no surviving records of Socrates himself saying such a thing, only the allegorical accounts of him written by his much more famous and better-remembered student, Plato. Still, based on what little we do know about him, I like to think Socrates was smart enough to have this realization. And with the realization that being smart didn't ensure that one had all the answers, there was no reason to assume that anyone else did just because they were awesome at public speech."
"So Socrates went to Athens, the Philosophy Capital of the Western World, and preached the virtues of logic over verbosity and the merits of argumentative discussion and critical thinking. He questioned everything, and tried to teach others to question everything. Socrates' philosophy was to take no truth for granted. Having thrown a rock at the glass house of Philosophy, he decided to attack Athenian politics and used his methods to advocate social reform. He became "The Gadfly", tried to make the world around him better by asking the hard questions everyone else was more comfortable not asking. Right up until he pissed off the Powers That Be and was sentenced to death, which just goes to show that you can't make an omelette without breaking your egg."
Natsuki snorted. "So you're saying I'm an egg asking to get cracked?" she asked with a lopsided grin.
"Ha, ha. Very funny. I'm saying you're a critical thinker, Natsuki. It has nothing to do with idiot balls. Sayori and Yuri don't like forcing confrontations and are generally content to go with the flow of things. You, on the other hand, are insufferably confrontational. It isn't stupidity or ignorance that spurs you to ask what are, in hindsight, 'obvious' questions. It's discomfort with assumptions. You know better than to take things for granted. Maybe-maybe-you're right and you're not as intelligent as Yuri or myself, but for what it's worth I think you are, and I'm certainthat you're among the wisest of us. When Sayori's being insecure or ditzy and I'm being callously pragmatic and Yuri's being unintentionally insensitive, you consistently display a generally high level of situational awareness and cautious judgment. And don't forget that even with the code in my hands, I couldn't stop you from noticing Yuri's descent into madness and trying to tip off the Player."
"Yeah, thanks loads for bringing that back up," said Natsuki.
"Hey," said Monika, pointing her tuning lever at her, "part of my job is keeping my girls happy. If you're going to mope, I'm going to employ every necessary tactic to knock you out of your funk and get you back on your feet. It's what the Asshole Friend does, isn't it?"
"Hey!" Natsuki retorted, waving the book at Monika, "You might be a psychopathic controlling bitch, but I wouldn't call you an asshole. Assholes are smelly and gross-looking, and technically you aren't either of those things. Usually. Sometimes you forget to shower after a workout. And don't get me started on when you skip your morning routine."
"Be still, my heart," Monika droned, rolling her eyes. Natsuki chuckled, and she joined in.
Having finished tuning, Monika put away her tools and settled in for some composing, while Natsuki settled in to pore over her new book.
15.10 – Choices, by Masterweaver.
"...so what I was thinking was maybe-and hear me out on this-we should adapt each other's favorite stories into each other's favorite mediums. Like, you novelize Parfait Girls, and I make a manga out of the Portrait of Markov." Natsuki snorted. "I mean I know it sounds ridiculous, but the challenge might be fun. What do you think?"
Yuri considered the question for a few moments. "Hmmmm. Well..."
/\: I'm sorry, but it sounds a bit... impossible. Maybe with some different stories.
O: That's actually a very intriguing idea, Nats! I'd love to!
X: You know honestly, I'm just happy to do anything with you. But this does sound fun!
[ ]: Natsuki, let's stop beating around the bush and just start dating officially.
"...Really Monika?" Yuri said flatly. "Really?"
"Really what?" Monika said with a confused tone. "What did I do?"
"Playstation character choice right out of an adventure game, that's what you did!"
"Wait what?" Natsuki looked around, completely oblivious to the floating words next to her. "She did that, really?!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Monika insisted flatly.
"Fine. So if I say circle button-"
Sayori will remember this.
"Oh, real cute, Monika. REAL CUTE!"
"I swear, I didn't do anything!"
The argument rose in pitch. In the corner, Sayori hid her snigger.
15.11 – Try To Keep It Cute, Huh?, by Masterweaver.
"K-Mom really invited you four to the wedding?"
"We bonded over literature," Yuri said simply. "And... well, we're a small loop."
The bronze-skinned catgirl shrugged. "Well, far be it from me to criticize her."
There was an awkward pause.
"...You haven't heard of us," Natsuki stated flatly.
"No, should I have?"
The Dokis all shared significant looks. After a moment, Monika cleared her throat. "Nadia, normally I'd warn you about playing our hub backup, but given what your world is like... I'm still going to warn you: keep the lights on and I'm not like that anymore."
Nadia Fortune quirked an eyebrow. "Wow, really, a world that's an even bigger shithole then this one? That's not common outside dystopias."
"I wouldn't say bigger," Sayori mused. "But... definitely more intimate."
The catgirl took a moment to process that, before shaking her head. "Whatever. Look, you're K-Mom's friends, so I'll do my best to give you a good time around here. I'm warning you, though: I'm the youngest looper here, and there is a LOT of fighting. Like sometimes you can't go down the street without having to fight off a mugger... and one of the older loopers is just the worst. Like, the only reason she's not an MLE is because she prefers pleasure over power..."
=-=-=-=
"Ya know, you could be Umbrella's body double. Got the eyes, got the hair, got the height-"
"Watch it," Natsuki growled.
"Might need some acting lessons," mused the orange-haired girl examining her with the artificial eyes on her arms. "Course, Umbrella has-well, an umbrella for a weapon. You any good at fighting toots?"
"I've got a few hammers and some super powers."
"Mmm."
"...Why are you giving me that look, Peacock?"
"What? I ain't giving you no look." The girl tilted her hat, lighting a cigar. "Watchoo thinkin', me lookin' at a dame? Got myself a girl already. I'm not givin' you no looks. Don't have eyes to look with."
Natsuki snorted. "Yeah, no, you were smiling."
"I'm always smilin'!"
"You're always smirking. This was one of those 'oh wow my heart is melting she's adorable' smiles. What's with that?"
"...You just act a lot like Umbrella, that's all."
"What, you got a thing for her?"
"Not like that," Peacock said. "She just thinks Marie is her dead mom because of the skullheart and since me and Marie are an item that kinda makes me her dad sometimes."
Natsuki stared at her.
"Look doll, I'm a barely pubescent quadruple amputee cyborg orphan with a fondness for cartoon humor, and this is the thing that weirds ya out?"
"Yes."
"Huh. Alright, so it's weird."
"Look, can you not... dad me? I'm not really fond of people dadding me." Natsuki glanced down at her mixing bowl. "Not fond at all."
"Right, right. Sorry, got caught up in the moment. So!" Peacock turned back to the oven. "I'm telling ya, toots, you can't outcook me."
Natsuki smirked. "Oh, you might be an older looper, but I've got that special knack most people don't get!"
=-=-=-=
"So... you've probably been asked this a lot... but exactly how close are you and Carol?"
Filia blinked. "We're... best friends?"
"...Aaaaaah." Yuri nodded slowly. "I see."
A pair of yellow eyes peered at her from the back of Fillia's head. "Whacha implyin', kid?"
"I'm fairly certain you know exactly what I'm implying." Yuri sipped her tea with a small smirk. "Even if your partner does not."
"...Yeah, I'm lost here," Filia admitted. "What exactly are you two talking about?"
"You know, not all romantic relationships have sexual components," Yuri mentioned offhandedly.
"Wait, what?"
"It's entirely possible for a pair to fall in love and have a deep, lasting bond without resorting to physicality if they have personal reasons to avoid it."
Filia boggled at the purple-haired girl. The massive fanged mouth on the back of her own head began to snicker.
"What... what does that have to do with anything?" she eventually managed.
Yuri quirked a brow. "You've had Samson stuck to the back of your head since your baseline. Has he done nothing to educate you?"
"Hey, the kid's life is her own," the black hair said with a shrug.
"Mmmhmmmmmm."
Filia frowned. "I don't understand."
"That much is very clear."
"Seriously, what are you two talking about? I mean, you're going all over the place, asking how me and Carol get along, and then talking about romance, and saying Samson is a bad teacher... this conversation is completely random, I don't get it."
The other girl quirked her lips. "Oh, I supposed it would make much more sense if you'd heard of the yuri genre."
"Wait... you have a whole genre named after you?"
Samson burst out laughing. "She wants to know if you're yarking it up with Carol, kid!"
"WHAT?!"
"Not necessarily," Yuri clarified. "Like I said, romantic relationships don't need to be sexual-"
"Me and-?! Wait, hold on, but... us?! Carol?! We're... we're friends! I mean, we're close friends, sure, but that's because I don't remember anything from my past besides her, and she's... she's got a lot of determination, rebuilding after what happened to her, but-"
"Ya know, they've moved in together," Samson mused. "The princess gave Carol the deed to an abandoned house, and we all live there these days-"
"Convenience!" Filia squeaked. "I don't want to go back to whatever my old life was, and she needs a place to rest sometimes. And we're friends, we look out for each other-"
"She must trust you an awful lot to invite you in," Yuri observed.
Filia sighed. "I... guess... she was really happy when I started looping, even if I made a big mess of things by fighting basically everyone..."
"Yeah, you know that illusion she wears to look normal?" Samson asked. "Only place she's real comfortable dropping it is in that house. She'll go Painwheel if she needs to, but you don't see a happy Painwheel walking the streets-only in there."
"Yeah, but that's just... just cause it's our home. HER home. I happen to live there. I mean it's my home too, but it's... it's her home, really."
Yuri took another sip of her tea. "Home is where the heart is."
"...I guess?" Filia replied, confused.
"And she's let you into her home."
Filia groaned. "Oh come on. We're both teenagers!"
"After what you've both been through, I suspect you qualify as adults."
"And... and we're both girls!"
Yuri rose a single eyebrow. "Again: Samson, have you taught her nothing?"
"Hate to break it to ya kid, but the whole 'girl on girl is bad' thing is pretty recent historically speakin'."
Filia huffed. "I mean... come on. If, if... IF Carol actually felt, you know, that way about me, why hasn't she said anything?"
"She's shy?" Yuri suggested. "Or maybe she's not sure how you feel? Or maybe she doesn't realize how she feels, since she got screwed over by Brain Drain and has no real example of what love is? Maybe she thinks romance has to involve sex, since that's a common belief, and her condition makes her uncomfortable with that. Maybe she's fine with you but doesn't quite know how to deal with Samson also being part of the relationship since, you know, you two are a package deal."
"That last one is pretty common, actually," Samson admitted. "Still, my previous hosts made it sometimes work..."
Filia bit her lip. "I... I don't know."
"...That's fine," Yuri assured her. "It's perfectly fine to be unsure. It's a complicated subject after all. But... maybe you should think on it a little."
"...yeah. Maybe..."
=-=-=-=
On the wooden floorboards of an otherwise empty house rested two girls. One was by all accounts positively adorable; the other was marred and monstrous in appearance. Yet the two pairs of eyes that stared up at the ceiling were filled with the exact same weariness.
"...how long is your loop again?"
"About a year."
"Kay."
The room fell silent once more.
"...you've lived with this your whole life?"
"Yep."
"I mean... wow. Honestly, this is... the third worst part of everything that happened to me. Just picturing growing up with it..."
"At least with you it's obvious. Kind of. It's like..." The peach-haired girl sighed. "It's like... growing up, I was told I didn't have any reason to be so sad. And that's it, people think depression is sadness, when it's more... silence. So I constantly felt like what I was feeling was wrong, no matter how people tried to fix it. Showered me with gifts, hugs, tried to work it out... it wasn't until I was actually diagnosed that they started to get it, and that sort of made it worse because they kept having to make concessions, and I didn't want to be a burden."
"...wow."
"I mean, I'm not making light of your version," she reassured her quickly. "It's just, you know... with you, people expect trauma, bad days, because you actually have something to point to and say 'this is the event that fucked me up.' So... I don't know."
"No, I understand what you're saying. I get it, Sayori, really. And... yeah, I guess I am lucky that way. And in a lot of ways." A sigh passed through the scar-covered body. "Still, though. It doesn't get rid of this... when it happens."
"No... it doesn't."
"...Does it happen all the time for you?"
"Mmm. I can put it off with effort, but it's a constant... it's like Loki and the snake."
"What?"
"Norse mythology. Loki was a god who did a horrible thing, and as punishment he was chained to a rock and a snake dripped venom onto... something, I think it was his eyes? Anyway, his wife would gather the venom in a bowl, but sometimes she had to leave to go empty it, and the venom would hit and Loki would be put through absolute torment. So... I'm Loki, the bowl is my coping mechanisms, and the snake venom is my depression."
"Huh."
The room was quiet for a few moments more.
"...it's not like that for me, I think. It just... hits all at once, sometimes. Like today. Is that weird?"
"No, Carol, it isn't weird at all. Mental conditions like ours... they're each uniquely felt to make our lives worse."
"I guess."
The two of them fell silent after that, remaining on the floor till they fell asleep. The next day, they participated in looper events, but for now... they simply waited it out.
=-=-=-=
"...and I know, I know she's made a lot of progress and she's mostly in a good place now, but sometimes it... it just feels like she's suffering and I can't help, you know?" Monika put her head in her hands. "And really, that's how it is with all of them. When they go through bad stuff, I... I can't help them, and..."
"And you feel like all that hard work is meaningless, because you can't get rid of the fundamental problem."
"...yeah."
"I get that. Carol's come a long way since she started looping. It's almost possible to forget what Brain Drain did to her... but then, sometimes, she has off days. Depressive episodes." The massive figure next to her adjusted his position a little. "I don't know what to tell you, kid, beyond just... be there for them when it happens."
"I mean, obviously. I know what I have to do, what's best to do... how to help them all, it's just... sometimes the best thing to do is to stand back, because there's nothing I can do without, without making things worse! And it's just..." She threw up her hands and leaned back against the wall. "Everything I did in baseline, all the horrible things I did, I did because I wanted to feel some control over the situation. I did it because I didn't want to be so helpless, I wanted to be able to make things better-for me, obviously, but I'd like to think I'm not so selfish anymore... except things like this come up and I just... Sometimes, I just want to set the world on fire and start it all over, Ben."
For a moment, they were silent.
"...I guess that's a bit much, huh?"
"Kid, this is a world with an ancient artifact that screws over anyone desperate enough to use it... and people still use it. I can get extreme urges." The man turned to look at her. "You don't act on them, do you?"
"No! No, I'm responsible for my world multiple times over. For my friends doubly so-"
"The thing is, when you come across something you can't control you have to accept it. But that doesn't mean you have to just sit back and suffer through it. You work on... something else. Something you can control. Something that helps, you know?"
"...huh." Monika nodded. "I guess... It's just, our loop is so small, there usually isn't anything else to do."
"Hmm. Maybe... what you need is some sort of project. I don't know you well enough to know what you would work on, but... you know something, while you're here, you could help one of us."
"Really?"
"Yeah... the princess is overworked as it is. I could put in a word for you and make you some sort of assistant."
Monika nodded. "Well... thank you, I guess. But..." She stood up and dusted off her skirt. "If I'm going to do this, I'll do this on my own merit. No offense."
"None taken kid. I'll call you when our girls are ready to go out again."
=-=-=-=
Natsuki bounced against the ropes and fell flat onto the stage. With a groan, she pushed herself up to her knees and, wobbling, stood up with her fists raised. "S...so, ish that all ya got?"
The muscular man across the ring shook his head. "Kid, you can barely stand."
"Ha... well... 'snt like I can give up, right?" Her unfocused pink eyes drifted over him, and she wiped some blood from her smirking lips. "What, is the big bad Beowulf afraid of beating up a little girl?"
"Look, one of the first things you learn in the ring is to take a break before your body breaks." Beowulf pulled out a chair and sat down. "I'm not fighting you in your condition. And I'm not going to let you use some souped up super healing either, that'll just give you false ideas about your endurance."
Natsuki sighed, slumping against the ropes. "Fuckin'... fleshy body. Doing stupid things like, like not shrugging off injury... exhaustion... stupid."
"...Are you not usually a young girl?"
"First of all, fuck you I'm eighteen. But... not really. Baseline I'm just a bunch of pictures and text on a screen. Monika's gotten to a point where she can recode our world, full HD3D with voices and, you know, realistic motion, but... it's still not quite the same." She wiped some sweat off her brow. "Stickier... gunkier. Not bad, there's just... more."
"Huh." Beowulf nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess that would explain some things."
"What?"
"Your wrestling style is excellent, don't get me wrong, but it's... textbook. I felt like I was taking on an artificial sparring partner-they have those in some loops, and they're challenging right up until you figure out the pattern. I'm guessing you mostly tackle pre-made brawls?"
"Kind of hard to find anything else..."
"Yeah. Kid, you're good with what you've got, but you've gotta up your game. Figure out how to read and disrupt who you're fighting, as well as fight good on your own. Otherwise if you get caught without a trick up your sleeve, you'll be squashed flatter than cardboard."
"I think I got some good shots in."
Beowulf cricked his neck. "Well, yeah. So maybe just flatter than a pizza."
"Ha." Natsuki flopped her arm vaguely in his direction. "You. Just don't want to admit... you got beat by a girl."
"...Kid, remember the world you're in right now? 'Beat by a girl' isn't nearly as humiliating as it might be elsewhere."
"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaa."
"...Uh-huh."
"Right..." Natsuki pushed herself off the ropes, stumbling into a ready stance. "Let's go again."
"Tomorrow, kid." Beowulf held up a hand as he stood, cutting off Natuski's reply. "No. I need time to figure out how to beat some sense into you."
"...fine. Holding you to that. Gonna get me some... drink, stuff." Natsuki practically flowed between the ropes, stumbling toward the door. "Milkshakes a thing here...? Whatever. I'll go find a place, and take what they got."
=-=-=-=
Yuri looked at the blood dripping off her knife.
"...I'm sorry, but... I don't think this is me."
"Oh?"
She sighed, turning to the white-haired young maid that was idly sucking corpses into her vacuum. "The adrenaline rush of combat, the thrill of the hunt, the taste of the kill... I'm alright with that. It's all focused on me, it's... an even exchange. But this... I've fought zombies, no offense intended-mindless undead. That's visceral. This... there is just too much of the whole... fear of me involved. I don't think this is for me, Marie. I prefer my combatants one on one."
"Quality over quantity. Yes, I suppose that makes sense."
"And, no offense meant to you and yours, I don't want to become a serial killer."
Marie chuckled as her tool consumed the last cadaver. "Ah, yes. Because of the lack of respect for life, I take it?"
"Mostly because of that, yes. There's also the... messiness. The more people involved, the more complicated it gets."
"Fair enough. Honestly, I am surprised you agreed to this at all." The lich child tilted her head. "You don't seem to be the kind of person who would willingly kill, even if it's scum like this."
"...I have embraced death from my baseline. I know suffering, from more angles than most. Like I said, I'm good if it's... intimate. This is just banal. I thought I might like it, since..."
She trailed off.
"...since?" Marie prompted.
"...there have been loops where..." She glanced away, wiping her knife clean. "...Well. Let's just say Natsuki is my Peacock."
"Ah," Marie said quietly. "...I suppose you're very lucky to have a girlfriend like her."
"We're not dating."
Yuri's protest was calm and professional, but Marie's force senses picked a hint of something else underneath. "Oh?"
"We're good friends, we... watch out for each other," she explained. "Our loop is pretty terrible to the both of us."
"I see." Darth Nihileet smiled gently. "My mistake, then. Perhaps we should head back to meet the others now?"
Yuri put her knife away. "That would be nice, yes."
=-=-=-=
Spurts of violet flame burst round the corner moments before a blue-skinned girl smashed to a halt in front of Sayori's feet. She examined the groaning individual curiously for a moment, before kneeling down and producing a small dagger.
"...Wha-?"
"Shh, it's okay, I'm a friend." Sayori cradled her head gently and snipped apart the stitches on the girl's lips. "You've fought bravely, miss Contiello. I'll take it from here, alright?"
A cough brought her attention to the draconic creature that slithered through the girl's head. "You know not what you face, child. The monster that we fight-"
"Is exactly who I came seeking. I know what she is and what she has done, and I am not unprepared." Sayori pulled back her dagger and put a single cupcake into the girl's skeletal left hand. "Rest, Leviathan, and take care of your partner."
A darkly amused titter brought their attention to the copper-skinned woman who had just arrived, watching them with a single hand on the hip of her elegant dress. "My, my, my. I didn't expect a corpse to get such attention in this day and age. But then again, you seem a touch... out of place, don't you?"
Sayori rose slowly, the gentle smile never leaving her face. "Eliza. Neferu, Sekhmet. The Crimson Scourge, godslayer. Lover of Dio, breaker of Titans, bane of catgirls..."
"Bane of catgirls?" The woman smirked. "That's a new one. I suppose I do collect many titles. Although I wonder if you have any."
"Quite a few. But the one that might interest you the most is this: Darth Somnus, handpicked apprentice to the Fun Lord of the Sith." Sayori curtsied, her smile not leaving her face.
The woman's own smirk dropped. "I... see."
"I was hoping we could chat, Eliza. Talk about our... experiences."
"Mmm. Perhaps... later. At Bastet's den." The smile returned to the woman's face. "You'll have a chance to prove yourself... apprentice."
"I shall look forward to it. Saturday, shall we say?"
"A busy day for me, unfortunately. Tuesday."
"Hmm. That's reasonable. I'll see you at six."
The woman nodded in agreement. She seemed to pause for a moment... then strode briskly away, keeping her mouth shut.
"Mmmm." Sayori shook her head. "That will be interesting..."
"What... what just happened?" Leviathan demanded. "I have never seen Sekhmet react with such fear, subdued though it might be."
"My master has a reputation in certain circles. I've yet to build up one like it, but... well." Sayori shrugged, holding out a hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"...I certainly hope so..." The girl took the hand, and cleared her throat as Sayori pulled her up. "Ah... thank you for, well, freeing my lips from those stitches. Oh, dear, that sounded rather more provocative than I meant-"
Sayori giggled. "Oh, what, am I not pretty enough to be worth provocation?"
"Well-that is, I am afraid I have something of another engagement, miss... Somnus?"
"Sayori. Somnus is a title, my name is Sayori."
"Sienna Contiello... though, you already knew that." The girl peered at her. "How did you-?"
"I'll tell you what, I'll explain everything over some cream soda, alright?"
=-=-=-=
"Hmm." Monika clicked her tongue. "I think somebody is trying to pilfer a few personal profits from this proposition."
Parasoul glanced at her. "Really?"
"'A convicted felon may ask a legislated judge to strike their crimes from the record after a period of imprisonment numbering no less than eight months.' I mean on the surface it sounds nice, forgiveness for the crimes, a second chance outside. Blah blah blah, which crimes are and are not viable for this treatment, blah blah blah full rights as a citizen, which includes the ability to wear concealed arms. Given the claws the Medici mafia has in the legal system they'll probably be the ones exploiting this the most if it passes." She handed the document over. "And absolutely nothing about protection for the victims."
"Mmmm. I can see your point... and this is from one of the more wheel-and-deal legislators. I wouldn't be surprised if he took a commission specifically to get this passed." The princess bit her lip. "On the other hand, there's not really any way I can deny the 'forgiveness' angle without being called out for being a hardass. Whether or not this passes it'll cause controversy."
"Yes... perhaps a counterproposal. Allow the criminals to work for their redemption, community service monitored by... hmmm. Not the police, the Medici still control them... The Egrets? That would show a personal interest in the supposed reformations, put the least corruptible individuals in charge of the whole situation... of course, whether or not that passes, you should still insist on protection for the victims. Pointing out the lack will seriously hurt this lawmaker's reputation, and might put any future of his proposals under more careful examination, making him less valuable to the mafia."
Parasoul glanced at her askance. "You seem to have a decent grasp of politics."
"I read quite a bit. And law is like programming, really." Monika started through another set of documents. "You set down rules, try to hammer out bugs and glitches when you find them, and put in patches when people find workarounds that break the system's intent."
"Of course, with programming the only people who get hurt if you mess up are the people using the computers."
Monika leveled her green eyes at Parasoul in a flat stare. "I know this reality is pre-digital era, but that is grossly underestimating the capability and potency of computers."
"...I suppose," Parasoul conceded. "I just... I'm uncomfortable with the idea of relying on calculatory machines to such a degree. There's a certain level of empathy they lack, an inability to see the situation from within, that the human angle can better adapt to."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Monika burst out laughing. "Oh-oh, hahaha, oh my god. You're serious. You're serious? Machines less empathetic than humans?!"
"...yeeeeeees?" Parasoul looked at her warily. "What... what's so funny?"
Monika wheezed for a couple of minutes, holding up a finger... and then took a deep breath as she pointed out the window. "Out there, at this moment, the medici mafia is conducting robbery, human trafficking, and outright murder. And even without their influence, there are people getting shafted and outright abused because they're ferals, or parasite hosts, or because they're pretty girls and some guy doesn't get the concept of no means no. And the vast majority of the perpetrators are, in fact, human. Your so-called heartless machines wouldn't do anything like that without a reason-and you're assuming that machines are automatically heartless. I'm pretty much living proof that's not true."
"...You're a machine?"
"An A.I. in my homeworld. And not even an advanced one, just a video game NPC that gained self-awareness." Monika's smile fell. "I'm not... proud of what I did in baseline. But in the end I stepped in to make things right... because I had empathy. In fact, everything I did was because I had a heart-an aching one that drove me to and past the brink of insanity, but one with feelings." She gazed out the window, watching the midday skyline. "I guess I was like you, once. Thinking that mechanical automatically meant automatic. Cold, unfeeling... uncaring. It's why I wanted to escape... well, partially why. It's why I was so willing to do horrible things to... to people I didn't even see as people, because they weren't human, they were just code and images. I regret ever thinking that."
Parasoul glanced down at her desk for a moment.
"...I... apologize for my statements."
"Mmm." Monika shook her head. "To be fair, there are dangerous, amoral, unempathetic machines out there. But there are also dangerous, amoral, unempathetic humans. Just... don't judge machines without meeting them, the same way you wouldn't just humans. Or ferals, or parasites-"
"Alright, I get it." Parasoul cleared her throat. "Anyway, if you are serious about being my assistant for the loop, I suppose we'd best continue, shouldn't we?"
"Right." Monika looked down at her documentation and frowned. "This seems like a textbook unpleasant design proposal. Grated metal benches."
"That, at least, I can justify ignoring due to budgetary limitations."
=-=-=-=
"Well... that was certainly an interesting loop," Yuri said.
"I had a lot of fun!" Sayori chirped brightly.
Natsuki gave her a look. "You're covered in burns and scars."
"And you've got bruises and a black eye!"
"...faire enough. Yeah, this was a cool place to visit. Wouldn't want to live here though."
Yuri nodded. "That's fair... hey, has anybody seen Monika?"
Natsuki frowned for a moment or two. "She said she had something to deal with and slipped out the door."
"...Hmm." Yuri glanced at the door for a moment. "What is she up to?"
Sayori shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it's one of those things she's trying to keep secret because she wants to surprise us later on when she's down. She'll probably be back soon enough... the loop's ending tonight, after all."
"...I suppose," Yuri conceded.
Natsuki shrugged. "Well... whatever I guess. We'll bug her when she gets back."
"That's the spirit! Now come on, we're in a casino-let's get in some gambling before the night is out!"
=-=-=-=
Monika strode into the movie studio confidently, stepping around the various gofers and technicians running about, and stood politely at the edge of the soundstage while the actors played out an over-the-top confrontation by the numbers. She waited through a confident speech about the power of unity, a dastardly battle with almost realistic swords, and the villain's screaming demise and rant about how impossible her fate was, before at last the director called a break.
"Quite a loopy performance," she said casually.
The director glanced at her. "What? Who are you?"
"Oh, just the coffee girl. I'm new. Sorry, I know how much of an anchor this show is for the general population, I was just... making an observation."
"Hrmf." The director swiped a coffee cup from her tray. "Yeah, it looks ridiculous without the editing, I guess."
Monika's eyes had never left the heroine, who was glowering at her from behind her eyepatch. "Yes, I suppose controlling what people see is important in the movie biz."
"Ha, there's an understatement." The director looked her up and down. "One hour, everyone! So... what made you want to join us?"
"Oh, just wanted to chat to one of the most important people in this fractured universe."
The small actress snorted. "Putting it on a bit thick there, aintcha?"
"Hey," the director snapped, "the dame and I are talking, kid."
"No, it's alright. It's really her I wanted to talk with. I just didn't want to interrupt the shoot."
"Oh." The man cleared his throat. "Well... maybe you and I can talk later."
Monika smiled at him. "Maybe. Noon tomorrow... your place?"
"Sure thing, sweetheart." The director handed her a card. "If you don't mind, I gotta talk with the makeup crew-something 'bout that last scene seemed off."
He walked away, leaving Monika with the child actress glowering up at her. After a moment, the girl huffed. "So... how'd you figure it out?"
"The requirements were stable, important, and obscure. Stable meant I just had to go through the character list of the Hub wiki. Important narrowed it down from that-the ones who have a serious role in the story, who could connect the most loopers. It could have been the Skullgirl, but Marie's already looping and she's not the Anchor. Obscure just meant it had to be somewhere people wouldn't look... and going from the Skullgirl option, we have famous Skullgirl hunters. Annie, Girl of the Stars, a show about a supposedly immortal child hero that, unbeknownst to the general public, is propaganda based on hidden history and has fans even amongst the loopers... honestly, I'm kind of surprised nobody local's figured you out yet."
"...that's by design."
"I'm not going to tell them."
Annie glanced up. "What?"
"The other loopers. I'm not going to tell them you're looping."
"Well... thanks, I guess. But why?"
"I don't really have a place to point fingers. I'm no saint myself. If you decide to keep out of your loopers' affairs, then I guess more power to you." Monika frowned. "Just... why? Why haven't you revealed yourself?"
"...Started off as 'fudge them all, they're loonies," Annie admitted. "When Peacock started looping, I thought I'd made the right call... especially after the skullgirl started looping. Then those two cyborgs-Big Band and Painwheel... well, they started working to better themselves and keep Peacock and the Skullgirl from getting too out of hand... Even after Eliza, the loopers afterward just kept banding together to make their world a better place, even if only a little bit." She sighed. "And now they're all... some crazy wacky family. And I'm not one of them. I've stayed out of sight for too long. If I dropped in now... I can't just say 'hey guys, I'm home.' They're better than that." Her eye drifted to the ground. "They're better than me."
"...Maybe. But being part of a family doesn't mean you need to be perfect. It just means you need to reach out."
"That's nice and pithy, but it's not that simple."
Monika shrugged. "I went crazy and killed my friends, but somehow they're okay with me now."
Annie stared at her. "...You're serious?"
"Yep. Speaking of, I should head back. Last day of the loop, they'll be looking for me."
"Huh... Yeah, alright. Hey, hold up." Annie tossed her a small card. "Next time you're in New Canopy, drop by the studio and show them that. We'll talk more."
"Got it. Fair warning, I'm big on literature."
"Nerd, got it. Be seeing you... miss?"
"Monika. Just Monika."
Compiler's Commentary:
15.1: Hey, remember waaaaay back in 5.7 when Monika had that meta-migraine from playing the game? Here's how it happened.
15.2: The beginnings of an earth-shaking womance.
15.3: I wanna be there with a camera the first time one of them drops this in Monika's presence.
15.4: Further evidence that Yuri is low-key smarter than Monika. Faced with a complicated conundrum, Monika further complicates it with philosophical word salad while Yuri just cuts through the nonsense. Yes, that was an intended pun.
15.5: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz–wha-huh?! I wasn't sleeping, I swear! The Z key got stuck, that's all…
15.6: Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!
15.7: The Variant referenced here is Doki Doki Literature Girls, a webcomic of sorts by Yui on Tumblr. It's pretty damned funny, I recommend it.
15.8: We all feel like the dumb one, sometimes…
15.9: …but remember that ignorance is not the same thing as inquisitiveness.
15.10: Options are important! Also Sayori's starting to flex those programmer muscles. Fun.
15.11: The long overdue mash-up of two deliciously twisted games. Yassss.