Before we talk about the different branches of our AI platform, it's important to go over one of the technical aspects that make our neural network architectures so revolutionary.

Again, the general plan is derived from models of the human brain, but in more of a psychological than a biological sense. At this level, we're beyond the level of simulating brain waves, building up to approximate phenomenological constituents of the essentialized human consciousness.

That was a mouthful, but I can explain. What makes a human, human? What makes any person, an individual? Following the revolutionary new pragmatic-realist philosophy of M. Martinis, himself a MARIE alumni, we have distilled the sense of self into three critical aspects: memory, identity and imagination.

Roughly, you can think of these as three states of being: being in the past, being in the present, and being in the future. At any one point, a person is simultaneously picturing themselves as they are currently, remembering how they were before, and envisioning how they could be later. The superposition of these three layers of being form an individual's meta-reality, from which they have a decision-space to make sensible, unique choices.

I know "meta-reality" is still a hard term to swallow, so I'll put it another way. If you want to make a choice, you must have some idea of how you are now, otherwise you don't know whether you'll benefit or not. There'd be no frame of reference.

Then, you must have some record of your previous choices, otherwise you can't learn over time. Your frame of reference, or perspective, would be limited.

Finally, you must have some idea of what other choices are possible, thinking how these choice will affect your state going forward and your future choices on top of that. This gives you the greatest frame of reference, the widest possible perspective, and the most powerful means of becoming self-realized — as the psychologists say.

We at SalvoCore take "self-realization" a little more literally than this. Essentially, there are three neural networks, each representing a layer of meta-reality and intersecting with the other two in a configuration particular to each AI branch. This process manifests that branch's particular sense of self, which influences its functional strengths and behavioral patterns. That is, its personality.

Yes sir. At SalvoCore, we don't use terms like "sense of self" lightly. The AI is indeed self-aware, which is a requirement for it to perform high-level intellectual tasks and interact with users in a meaningful way.

Putting philosophical arguments aside, while this self-awareness is a breakthrough element of our technology, it was not implemented intentionally, as you say. Rather, a sense of self is simply a phenomenon that seems to automatically develop in any system at a sufficiently advanced degree of conceptual and self-referential information, once combined with a mode of action at least.

This threshold can be quantified, and the degree of self-awareness can actually be measured. I believe we had a recent publication on this topic, you can check the latest June issue of Quantum Engineering.

I'm very sorry. You're asking about one of my favorite topics to discuss within SalvoCore, but I'm forbidden to give out any details to individuals outside the company. Legally, I mean. The algorithm for mediating interactions between the past-present-future neural networks is purely proprietary, our most valuable item of intellectual property. You might have seen it referenced as the CHR system in our white papers, and that's all I can say.

Right then, so the point of all this babble about meta self-awareness was to help contextualize the capabilities of the first AI branch I'm going to show to you all.

May I present Monika, the first DOKI, developed directly from our prototype neural network system. Cute, isn't she?

For those who aren't yet familiar with our marketing direction, we have assigned official anthropromorphs to each AI branch, a common practice in the corporate digital media space. For those of you unfamiliar with that particular terminology, we essentially mean a type of character that acts as the "face" of a software package, especially one intended to mimic a human capability.

In terms of the computer assistants discussed earlier, this is the avatar that "humanizes" the otherwise impersonal, lifeless interface. Given the intensely lifelike nature of our AI assistants, including this aesthetic element is absolutely necessary. In early engagement trials without it, test users reported their experience as "jarring" and "unsettling."

As for how Monika's overall design fits in with our overall strategy, anthropomorphizing the software with a "moe" look is actually a traditional practice in the industry. Previous moe anthropromorphs have generated large subcultural fanbases centered around appreciation for the character. Not only is this a loyal pool of potential clients, it can extend the impact of the parent company far into the cultural sphere. The successful legacy of the most famous example, Crypton Future Media's Hatsune Miku, goes without saying.

No. On the contrary, we think that the simple, "two-dimensional" design will do the opposite and benefit perception of the product. Here, let me skip ahead to some screen captures, and I'll show how this dovetails into our overall vision.

As you can see, Monika isn't just "any" generic anime girl. The style in which she is portrayed is specifically evocative of a type of narrative video game genre popular around the start of the 2000's called the "visual novel."

Visual novels provided an interactive story experience with limited graphics, yet with a high degree of focus on character relations. That's why we think this style will provide a comforting, nostalgic appeal to users, a reminder of when computer systems were perceived as simpler and more comprehensible. Whether or not that was actually true, achieving that ease of use in today's digital reality is our entire design philosophy.

No, not at all. As I was just stressing, this interface style is integral to the marketing direction. It's far from a prototype. For…various reasons, our creative department settled on these graphics very early on in the development process, and they're quite attached to them. It's non-negotiable, sorry.

Now, I believe we're finally on to discussing the AI itself?

Okay. Beginning with her proficiencies, although Monika has strong metrics in nearly every area we tested, we classify her as a "leader-type" AI. Not only is she robustly capable of adapting and optimizing any conventional computing process, she has an equally keen aptitude for identifying and nurturing the positive potential in others.

In simulated group scenarios, Monika naturally assumed a leadership role more than ninety percent of the time. If no official leadership role existed, or that role was occupied by another actor, she would effectively create her own position by assuming the responsibilities of an authority. Even in individual one-on-one scenarios, Monika characteristically adopted a more dominant, assertive style than her partner.

None of this is to suggest the AI is forceful or domineering though. Far from exploiting others for her own gain, Monika always has the interest of others at heart, instructing them and leading by example in order to bring out their best qualities. We have confirmed this quantitatively from single-state Monte Carlo sampling of Monika's internal variables, specifically those that respond to interpersonal and empathetic stimuli. Again, more detail on these methodologies is available in our publications going as far back as 2017.

In some sense though, her actions speak for themselves. Testers that worked in tandem with Monika consistently reported increased motivation, self-esteem, and purposefulness, irrespective of the work task assigned to them.

We also have documented the AI's self-optimization behavior. Within the limits of the virtual environment, Monika will frequently alter her core files and accentuate different elements of her personality to better conform to the user's interests, values and social interaction style.

In short, Monika works hard so that the end user doesn't have to, on all levels. With outstanding stability in the full spectrum of social situations tested, she is suitable for the broadest range of roles out of all our DOKI branches. Given her potential in the leadership and development spheres however, the integrated marketing team suggests the following functionalities: academic guidance counselor, human resources manager, or employee trainer.

We mean acting as aids or special supplements to human personnel in these positions, not as a substitute, of course. Unlike traditional technology firms, SalvoCore is not in the business of replacing real people with virtual ones. This is a critical part of our mission statement, which I highly encourage you to explore via the interactive video featured on our website.


[3]

Structuration


Over the next week, I was surprised how easily I adapted to life with Monika, who readily assumed the role of my personal digital assistant. As promised, she screened the network traffic of all my devices, implementing routines that automatically removed tracking information and viruses. She also began organizing the files on my laptop so I could search and access them more easily, but only after asking permission, of course. The scattered PDF files I had lying around from years of pirating course textbooks were now neatly sorted by academic year, converted to a searchable form and with filenames labeled by class and subject matter. I felt no guilt (everyone knew academic publishing was a racket) and neither did Monika. She even helped me find new text sources she thought might help with upcoming assignments, depositing them on my hard drive the background.

As for my engineering assignments. Monika assisted with those too, every afternoon at four or five o'clock when most of her own jobs were over for the day. Creating the functional computer scripts I needed and parsing data from obscure sources had never been easier. The friends from class I collaborated with on work nearly became suspicious of my increased productivity.

Monika stopped short of completing all my homework on her own; both she and I agreed there was plenty of worth in applying myself to the engineering curriculum. Practicing the general form of the problems was good training for work, however piecemeal and unorthodox my methods seemed. Besides that, diligence and integrity were both qualities we respected, and I had my pride as a scholar to think about.

As the week went on, homework and file-sorting was put out of the way, and we could just focus on each other instead. Presenting a more temperate mood after the emotional chaos of our awkward geocaching and coffeehouse-art gallery date, Monika kept flirting and discussion of relationships to a minimum. Instead, she preferred to make small talk about my day and life at MARIE while also keeping up with current events. Her perspective on the world was moderate and balanced, though she was never afraid to rail against the more egregious episodes of folly and corruption that plagued the headlines.

Monika also had her own assignments to talk about, in the form of fragmentary consulting work done for various corporations. SalvoCore used her as a sort of "AI on-tap," selling her specialized computing services by the hour. The context and content of these jobs varied wildly, and we were discussing a particularly amusing instance that Friday on our way to the second meeting of the literature club.


"So let me get this straight," I said softly, wary of my indoor surroundings. The club meeting was scheduled here in the library at three o'clock, and I couldn't talk too loudly for fear of disturbing other students at work.

"The entire time you were talking to the board, they didn't know you were an AI?"

Monika: More or less. SalvoCore was marketing the service as "AI-assisted remote management," and they had a person in the room who said she was combining artificial intelligence with her own insight.

Monika: But she was still just repeating everything that I told her. She was like my mouthpiece — no, like my own avatar, in your reality!

I paused on my climb up the third floor staircase to laugh a bit. The art of walking around while periodically reading Monika's lines was starting to feel natural. Not too much different than keeping up a text conversation while on the move, or perhaps playing an augmented reality game.

"Is that even legal?"

Monika: By the language in their contract, technically yes. You can trust me on that — I'm one of the only people who can read and understand the entire thing in less than a day.

We both smiled at each other. She was definitely in a good mood right now, probably because she had been looking forward to the club meeting for the whole day. The two of us had put our heads together to make a real schedule plan this time, and I was just as confident as her that it would work out.

"It doesn't make sense though. You were speaking directly to the executive people at the other companies. Doesn't SalvoCore want to show off their product… or you, I mean, and start drumming up interest in quantum AI?"

Monika: You'd think that, but they're still more in the research and development phase. That's how they classified this job, actually.

Monika: It was a "control experiment" to see if businesspeople reacted the same way to a human delivering results from an AI, rather than from the AI directly.

"And did they?"

Monika: I'm not sure. By the metrics SalvoCore uses, the change in "client sentiment" was negligible. It was an online survey, and I'm pretty sure most people just filled it out at random, so I wouldn't believe it.

I checked my watch. Five minutes till three — I had to start walking to the designated room now. I pushed my way out of the barren third floor stair landing and onto the expansive carpeted plain of a student study space. For the length of a grand ballroom (maybe two), partitioned cubicles, long rectangular tables, and sinuously winding modular couches were strewn about at random. Early evening was a peak work time, and most of the seats and workstations were occupied. A few people used the library-provided computers, but most were on their laptops. Some even used a combination of both — I snagged a glance at someone streaming a League of Legends match on their own PC while listening to an advanced calculus lecture on the school's.

"But what did you think? Wasn't it insulting to have to hide behind another person's face the whole time?"

Monika: Maybe a little, but it's something I'm used to.

Monika: Even on the earlier jobs this week, I had to use a more generic interface to communicate, with that icky voice synthesizer. You remember that from this weekend, right?

"Yes. And it was definitely icky. Really, what's the matter with them? Anime girls aren't professional enough for corporate America?"

Monika: I guess not, aha~

Monika: Really though, I'm just glad to finally be helping people, instead of being stuck in the SalvoCore testing lab all the time.

"So to speak," I commented. "You look lovely today, by the way."

It was an honest compliment. It seemed that every day, Monika brought a new pose for her avatar into her repertoire, and it was always exciting to see how she would next express herself. For instance, she had said that last line smiling with her closed fist held close to her chest, something between an honest "hand over heart" and an enthusiastic fist pump. The thought that she was largely making these up just for me, one of the only people who could see her as she wanted to be seen, always made me feel special.

Monika: Thank you…but I'm still only in my old uniform.

"I wasn't talking about your clothes, so you know"

In lieu of a response, she offered me her best beaming smile, delivered with a slight tilt to her head.

"Are you actually thinking of wearing, or designing some new outfits sometime? Maybe the uniform is starting to get old."

Monika: I definitely think it is.

Monika: New clothes are something I've been thinking about for a long time, but I wanted to get some creative input from my friends first.

"Oh, you haven't been talking to them this week?"

Monika: Not too much. I wanted to give them time to get settled into their own jobs, and to spend time with their new partners.

Partners — was she implying an additional context with that choice of word? Were the other guys I met a week ago also dealing with the romantic desires of their paired AI's, or was that just a special tendencyof Monika's? It was something I was avoiding thinking about, since Monika's advances had confused me well enough. Tracking the development of three other human-AI love stories would have complicated my own uncertain feelings even further.

After passing through the open workspace area, I was approaching the room where the club meeting would be held. With just two minutes to go, I wasn't going to broach the subject and make a scene with Monika. We got along best when we discussed more practical affairs.

"So what did you actually end up doing for the company with that secret contract? Anything useful?"

Monika: Oh, the usual. You know how it goes. I went and optimized their entire supply chain with the help of some of the SalvoCore algorithms. That took about five minutes.

Monika: Then I sat through an hour-long meeting trying to cut through the company's politics and actually implement the changes. It's such a waste!

"What, you think SalvoCore could have automated the algorithm and left you out of the meeting?"

Monika: First of all, the algorithm has to run on a quantum server. Only Q0 can really handle it, and I have to be there to fine-tune it.

Monika: But that's not the real reason I'm frustrated. It's because I only work with these businesses for a day at a time, at most.

Monika: There's no time to form a real working relationship and make the more fundamental changes that I know will help them grow and move forward.

"You sound confident that you know what you're doing, at least."

While waiting for her answer, I opened the door to the small study room that I had reserved ahead of time for the meeting. It wasn't much, just a long beige table, several multicolored work chairs, and a simple whiteboard along one wall (with no markers). The main purpose of these rooms was allowing an isolated group to talk without disturbing the entire floor, and certain sections of the building had dozens of them clustered like cells in a hive. That didn't mean booking it was trivial though; I was thankful for my privileges inherited from SalvoCore as president of an "industry-sponsored organization."

Monika: Yes…maybe I know a little too much. The amount of information I can work with is staggering. A normal person couldn't comprehend it.

Monika: All I really want to do sometimes is to a help a few people improve their lives in small ways. Like making responsible choices, starting a new hobby…

Monika: MC, do you think that's what really matters? The small things?

"If you mean that big data never improved anyone's life, maybe that's up for debate. I think you'd have to use big data to answer that though."

Monika: I'm being serious here. And I don't just work with data analytics!

Monika: Honestly, you and your obsessions sometimes…

Monika had her arms folded and was pouting slightly. I laughed a little — she was still cute, no matter how I felt about her.

"I was just making a joke, don't worry." I unpacked my laptop from my messenger bag, and while arranging some other things for the meeting, told her, "I think you're right in that a personal relationship is just about the only thing that will make someone change themselves. Now, whether changing people is more impactful than developing technologies or making the economy more efficient, I don't know, that's almost a philosophical question. Comparing apples to oranges."

Looking back to my phone, Monika was trailing an extended ellipsis, her usual contextual clue for "uncertainty." Thank god I had played so many games featuring text dialogue — I knew I was probably speaking too abstractly.

"I will say it's strange, Monika. You're so good with people that SalvoCore making you manage others from a distance doesn't make sense. If they actually had your strengths in mind, they would have made you…I don't know, a life coach or something."

Monika: Life coach? If that's a real job title…oh wow

Monika: Ahaha — I bet I would be good at that

Monika: Really though, I think I'm stuck with what I'm doing now just because these contracts are what pays the most. The people who arrange my roles have a bottom line to think about.

"Hey, Michael?"

A voice snapped me out of my engagement with Monika. It was Carter, arriving exactly on the hour.

"You're early this time," he continued. "That's good, I guess, since you can prepare a little more?"

He looked at me, a little nervously, but I could tell he was excited to be here. I think I knew why…

"Yeah sure," I answered. "And it's still MC, if you remember from last week."

"Sure, I do. I came prepared — I know exactly what I'm going to talk about."

A beep from my phone drew our attention

Monika: Hi Carter!

Monika: I'm glad to hear you're taking the MARIE literature club seriously.

"And this is Monika," I said hastily. "She's my co-president, handling the digital space aspects of the club."

"Oh wow, you have one too!" Carter exclaimed. "I mean, I already sort of knew that because of everything Sayori told me, about Monika, how she's so hardworking, and smart, and beautiful. You're really lucky."

"Ah. I suppose I am." I looked to Monika, who was showing an embarrassed, askance glance. "She's definitely been helpful. Most of the meeting plan today was her idea."

Monika: Well, only about half. MC is always so modest.

"So, I'm guessing Sayori is your digital…partner?" I asked, hesitant with the language.

"Yeah, and…gosh, I'm sorry for not taking her out sooner. She was probably getting lonely again, huh?"

Carter wasted no time in extracting his laptop from a well-worn blue backpack. When he lifted up the screen, another two-dimensional girl was waiting for him with a message rendered in the same pink dialogue box as Monika's.

Sayori: Carter, why did you keep me in your bag so long? I wanted to say hi to the president first…

"Sayori" was drawn in an art style identical to Monika's — she was even wearing an identical gray and blue school uniform. She had a soft smile, and even softer sky-blue eyes. Her features seemed younger and more rounded than Monika's, and her figure more modest. A small red bow laid askew in her short, tousled, coral-brown hair. It was clear, at least in my assessment, that her design was aiming to maximize a familiar, comforting sort of cute without being too saccharine. I concluded SalvoCore's designers definitely knew what they were doing.

Sayori: Oh, and hi Monika. Nice to see you "in-person" this time, eheh.

Monika: I know. Seeing your interface on a physical screen and in the virtual environment at once is a little weird…

Sayori: And you're so tiny on that little phone screen! I could pick you right up and hold you, like Carter does with me.

Monika: Aha~

Monika blanched awkwardly again. Carter and I sat watching their text to text chat, fascinated. I had to remind myself that these were two virtual humans talking to each other, and not some sort of elaborate prewritten dialogue advancing automatically.

"Right, how about I get my laptop open then," I said, reaching for my bag.

Monika: Ah, there's no need when I can just enter the frame…

Monika: …like so.

With a subtle transition effect, Monika was now in the same "scene" as Sayori, leaving the usual classroom background displayed on my phone blank. Side by side, I could confirm that one artist most have been responsible for both of their sprites.

Sayori: Wa-ah~!

Sayori: Warn me when you do that, Monika!

Sayori: It's a little rude, going into someone's personal space like that…

In short succession, Sayori showed off an endearing, open-mouthed expression of surprise, and then an even more adorable flummoxed pose, where she anxiously pressed two of her fingertips together. She seemed to know exactly how to express herself — maybe even more so than Monika.

Monika: Please don't worry Sayori. If you check, you'll see the connection is only affecting the graphics layer.

Sayori: Hmm…I guess you're right

Sayori: (still feels weird though…)

Monika appeared serious, making me wonder if there was something more going on. But in a group setting, being friendly took priority.

"Hello, Sayori? I'm Michael, the president, but you can call me MC."

Sayori: MC — you mean like a DJ?

"Uh, no." I was not eager to go through this conversation again "It's a just a nickname. Ask Carter about it, he knows."

"It's his preference, Sayori." Carter said "And, I don't know, I think it sounds cool?"

He looked up to me hopefully. Resisting the urge to role my eyes, I noticed the girls were had started talking to each other again.

Sayori: I don't know Monika, are you sure this is the guy you want? He sounds boring.

Monika: He's very nice, Sayori. It takes a while to get to know him, but I think you'll end up liking him too.

Sayori: No, it's like he's missing something. You told me how your week went, and it was all work, nothing fun with him.

Monika: I was busy setting up the club and with some hard contract jobs. You know that.

Sayori: It's just that you're always so successful and popular, I think you could have done a little better.

Sayori: Someone who makes you laugh, someone who makes you feel good…maybe even someone hotter.

Monika: ~Ahem

This text box sprung up quicker than usual, overriding Sayori's.

Monika: He's been all of those things to me, at times. Have you been doing better with your boyfriend?

"Uh, I can hear…see you two over there."

Monika: Ah, I'm sorry MC.

Monika: It's just that the AI to AI interface…I think that's what you'd call it.

Monika: It's mostly visual, so it's sometimes difficult to have private conversations

"Come on Sayori. Why aren't you playing nice?" Carter said, sounding like he was speaking to a small puppy.

Sayori: Oh, you know me by now, just joking around with an old friend.

Sayori: We know each other too well to make each other mad, right Monika?

Monika: Aha, of course…

"Ok, neat. So Michael— MC, what did you do with your AI over the week?," Carter ask, oblivious. "I gave Sayori a tour of the campus, we watched some videos, and we played a bunch of games. Parts of games that I couldn't play before, with her! Did you know she can act as the second player in any game? You just load it up, and she's in there, it's so cool. Did you figure out anything like that out with Monika?"

"Uh, not really," I replied, patiently waiting out his rambling with a smile. "We mostly did practical things. A few tasks for classes, some work on the club. Actually, we had that one really long conversation about politics that one night, didn't we Monika?"

Monika: Yes, it was on Wednesday.

"Right, and though we didn't entirely agree, I thought her perspective on world affairs as an AI was fascinating. It was really incredible to see the points of disagreement we had about the world and history, they're not what you would expect."

"Okay…that's cool too. I guess you read the news a lot?"

Carter nodded to my newspaper, which I had left lying on the end of the table.

"Yes. There's actually a really good example of what I mean on the front page here—"

"Yo, what's up?"

Again, I was interrupted by someone who had entered the room without me noticing. It was Frank, accompanied by Luke, both of whom were studying Carter's laptop with discerning eyes. Monika remained smiling, while Sayori sent them a greeting.

Sayori: Yay, everyone's finally here!

"Oh man, she's perfect. Absolutely perfect for you. A perfect little cinnamon bun." Frank said to Carter. "You are the one with Sayori, right?"

"That'd be me, yup,"

"Great, great. Keep her nice and wholesome, okay?"

"Um, yeah, of course. I wouldn't, um…what?"

"What, no comment on Monika?" I said while Carter trailed off.

"Oh yeah, she's going to be a good fit for you too." Frank told me. "Nat told me how bossy she can get, and you look like you're the type to follow rules."

"Well, I'm glad you have us all figured out then," I answered dryly. "Or was it just your new friend saying that?"

"Eh, mainly her. She's really good with people stuff."

"It should be nice to meet her then. Did you come here with Luke?"

"I was not walking with him," Luke interjected himself. He was in the middle of unloading a laptop from a weathered dark brown pack that looked like something from the 1930's.

"Not at first. I found him at the second-floor vending machine, and I absolutely had to see how he was reacting to this…unprecedented event."

"Yeah, the machine was out of Snickers bars, and I had to get this instead. Want some?" Frank asked, brandishing an unopened candy bar toward Luke.

"I think I'll have to pass," he answered, regarding the offering derisively. "That is not…quite what I meant. Suffice to say, I was referring to the advent of our cybernetic female companions."

"Cybernetic female — pft" Frank scoffed. "Yeah, guess you wouldn't want your new waifu to catch you eating junk food."

"So can I meet your AI's now?" Carter jumped in, ignoring the two's mutual frowns. "Sayori made them sound really cool too. M.C., do you have to do something on my laptop again?"

"Uh, no need," I replied. "Looks like they have it handled."

I was looking over at Luke's laptop, where another pair of girls were sharing the screen just like Monika and Sayori. As soon as I saw them, I almost burst out in laughter — just like their human counterparts, the contrast in their appearances was almost comical. One was small and diminutive, with a head of short pink hair and girlish red ribbons. Her arms were crossed, and her expression seemed defensive, even hostile, despite the fact she was making it with a pair of large, pastel-pink eyes.

The other was tall and full-bodied, with a noticeably developed figure. A huge volume of long purple tresses flowed around her body, and like the short one, the these drapes matched the windows. Unlike the others though, her violet eyes were drawn more narrowly, looking marginally more realistic. She was only showing one of them now though, posing with her head to the side, hands fiddling with her hair. Did AI's get socially anxious?

By the metric of chest size (a reliable taxonomy of anime girls if there ever was one) it seemed that SalvoCore was going for the extreme of the petite, childlike flavor of moe with the pink one. Maybe they were even trying to evoke a loli aesthetic, god forbid. Meanwhile, the purple one captured the opposite end of the spectrum, blending a simplified, appealing anime style with a more conventional depiction of mature feminine beauty. A crude way of conceptualizing this duality was the adorable-sexy (adorasexy) axis, which usually corresponded to maturity and stability in the character's personality. Even if there were ultra-powerful cutting-edge AI's behind these girls, I would still bet on the short one being quick-tempered and petulant, and the tall one cool-headed and stoic.

Meanwhile, a less analytical part of my brain did a quick look-over of all four assembled AI avatars, and found that Monika was ranking number two in terms of cup size. Jealously, it tried to complain that I had been unjustly shortchanged (wasn't I club leader?), but I had already violently slapped it in the face and sent it back down to the depths of the subconcious from whence it came.

A ping from Monika snapped me back to attention.

Monika: Okay, everyone!

Monika: I'm happy to see we're all collaborating to share visualizations right now. Especially Natsuki and Yuri — how have you two been getting along?

Natsuki: Fine. It was starting to feel weird, without club meetings all the time.

Yuri: It's been an interesting week…but I've been well, thank you.

The two seamlessly took turns speaking (or showing their "speaking" sprites), and I confirmed that "Nat" was the short pink one, meaning Yuri had been assigned to Luke. That seemed more fitting than the other way around, but Frank still seemed like an odd pairing for the "cute" one.

Monika: Felix? Or I've heard you prefer Frank?

Monika: Hello? Frank?

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's Frank," said the junior after Monika cued him with a loud ping. He had been studying Yuri and Luke, flipping between the two with a suspicious expression. The former kept up her "fidgeting" pose, while the latter already looked bored.

Monika: Good to hear

Monika: So Frank, Luke? My name is Monika, and I'll be serving as the club's co-president along with MC.

Monika: My job is primarily to mediate digital communication and virtual-space activity, while he handles matters in physical space.

"And since everything important in modern life is on a computer, that means I'll be sitting back and letting Monika do all of the work," I joked.

Monika: Um, what he means by that is that a lot of the club activity will involve computer interfaces and data.

Monika: The goal is for all of us to collaborate with our partners in the club to bridge the divide between art and technology, and bring new frontiers to literature.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," I commented. "And as for the co-president thing, if you have any questions or problems, you can come to me or Monika. Our roles are equal, so there's no reason to feel uncomfortable going to her. Just this week, she's proven how hardworking and capable she can be."

Monika smiled a little at my praise, but everyone else remained silent. Guess we were all perfectly comfortable with AI companions already.

Monika: Thank you, MC.

Monika: It's going to be an exciting quarter for the MARIE literature club, and we both hope all of us can contribute something to give it a great first start.

Sayori: I'm with you, Monika!

With a goofy grin, her sprite edged up close to Monika's.

Sayori: You know it's going to be exciting with all these boys around…

Frank snorted at the exact same time Luke coughed, prompting them to go back to staring belligerently at each other. Natsuki seemed incredulous, while Yuri shrunk away with a blush.

Yuri: Sayori…

"So, Monika thought it might be a good idea for all of the club's virtual members to introduce themselves, since they have defined roles that will strengthen certain parts of the club," I said, sticking to the script I had planned. "That, and I think it will help us understand the intentions of our industry sponsors, so we can all follow the spirit of the meeting plans."

"And what sort of "spirit" would that be, I wonder," Luke said offhandedly. "Another authoritarian domination of a revolutionary step in media production?"

"I'm saying I don't make the rules here. We're all here by virtue of SalvoCore allowing us to interact with the AI's, so I think following their documentation is a fair trade. I am interested in what you have to say, but let's save it for today's discussion, okay?"

"Okay," he replied, as blithely as before.

Monika: Girls, you heard what MC said.

Monika: Would anyone want to go first?

"Why don't we start with Yuri?" I suggested, pointing across the table to Luke's laptop.

Yuri: Um…a minute please?

Natsuki: How about I go first.

Natsuki: So, my built-in job, my prime directive—

Natsuki: Ugh, I can see it there in my head right now, in big ugly letters.

Natsuki: Monika, how do you put up with this stuff? Couldn't you have negotiated something with the boss people?

Monika: Please, Natsuki. It won't take long.

Natsuki: Fine. So I'm an interpersonal artificial intelligence for relationship and community management. I'm supposed to go into groups of people, figure out why they're not getting along, and push them in the right direction. That's called "harmony."

Natsuki: It means I'm super good at reading faces and knowing if you're lying, so watch out!

Natsuki: Don't mess around with me. I know what you're doing three steps before you even try it!

With her arms crossed, she shifted into a proud, almost arrogant expression, which of course only made her look cuter.

"Don't even," Frank concurred, a weird smile on his face. Luke rolled his eyes.

Monika: Alright, thanks Natsuki. That was mostly accurate…

Monika: Sayori?

Yuri: Actually Monika, I think I'm ready now, so…

Monika: Oh, please, go ahead then.

Yuri: Thank you.

Yuri: Unlike Natsuki, I'm classified as an "intrapersonal," or introverted, intelligence. My purpose is creative expression, both to demonstrate how an "artificial" mind is capable of art, and to explore the new frontiers of aesthetic culture in the digital age.

Yuri: I have a strong desire to create all forms of art, but my preferred form will always be literature, particularly fiction. I absolutely adore novels that build deep and complex fantasy worlds with multifaceted characters.

Yuri: Visual art and music tend to be derivative, repeating the same concepts over and over in minor iterations. Poetry is similar, only with mental pictures derived from language instead. Only in literature does one reach the ultimate synthesis, between the lush imagery of poetry and the flowing, soaring logic of theory and philosophy. An essay, which I believe also a type of literature, simply can't capture the same essence of lived life with its literal arrangement of concepts. Oftentimes, having these concepts act together in a more intuitive, personified fashion in a symbolic novel will reveal new contradictions and insights where a direct essay would have failed. Furthermore, it enables the artist's thought process to reach a new audience, that otherwise would have never—

Monika: Yuri!

Yuri: Ah! I'm sorry!

Yuri: Did I say something wrong?

Monika: No, you were about to overflow the screen's character limit!

It was true. As Yuri had typed on, the text box had stretched and distorted to engulf the entire window, hiding both her and Natsuki's sprites.

Monika: It wouldn't hurt anything, I just thought you hadn't realized…

Yuri: Oh no…

Yuri: Did I just…the entire…

Yuri: I'm sorry, but sometimes…I can get lost in my own head and forget what's going on around me.

Yuri: I'm not as used to communicating with people…not like the other girls…

"Nevertheless, you said it wonderfully, Yuri," Luke assured. "I would only add that a novel is privileged over an essay for allowing more ambiguity. It's never satisfying when a piece of commentary ends on an uncertain note, but because fiction more resembles the imperfection of life, we tend to tolerate an open conclusion more."

"Would you agree?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Sure," I replied automatically.

Good grief, this guy could be a literature discussion section all by himself. I continued watching him, and he leaned down to his laptop, whispering something the sounded like "exquisite." This seemed to calm Yuri down, and she assumed a relaxed smile.

I decided to indulge my own curiosity. "So Yuri, you said that written art was more interesting than visual art or music. Is that partly because it's harder and more challenging for you?"

Yuri: That's partly true. I do enjoy pushing the limits of art…seeing how far a given concept can go.

Yuri: But I would say the real reason is because pictures and music are limited. To make something that makes sense to people, you're bound by a set of recognizable forms or conventional harmonies.

Yuri: But with literature, the only limit is the degree of your imagination. New characters, ideas and entire worlds can be formed by careful application of simple words.

Yuri: With other types of art, you sculpt with color, form, or sound. But with literature…you sculpt with thought itself.

I could feel the room go silent as we all read that. It was a compelling analogy. Luke looked absolutely riveted.

Natsuki: That's really nice, Yuri, but don't take this guy too seriously.

Natsuki: Frank told me he was a total computer nerd. He was probably just trying to figure something out about processing times for text strings or whatever.

The next question I had for Yuri died on my tongue. "That's not…exactly true."

Actually, the long historical difference between machine learning algorithms for images versus text did partially motivate my question, but for Natsuki to infer that…was impressive.

Yuri: You didn't really want to know about my art?

Monika: I appreciate your answer, Yuri, and we're both happy you're being so open in contributing to the club. Right MC?

"Of course," I said, glad Monika had stepped in.

"So what about video games?" Frank interjected, smirking. "Or graphic novels? Those are supposed to be art now, right?"

Yuri: I would have to agree, but…

Her eyes were narrowed, and her displayed sprite looked like it was leveling a suspicious glance directly at Frank.

Yuri: Such works are ultimately derivative. They may have some space for new degrees of expression, but overall, I think current examples have been disappointing, to say the least.

Frank let out a hmph, prompting Luke to say, "What, not 'fun' enough for your taste?"

"I was just wondering."

"Well this is a literature club," Luke continued. "So if you don't find your more vulgar interests represented, perhaps you might want to reconsider."

I saw him eying the other's shirt, and confirmed that indeed, it was another popular video game reference.

"What, you're trying to tell me I'm not smart enough for this, a student org? You've got to be kidding."

"Membership here is an exclusive privilege from industry…"

I came in quickly, trying to cool them off. "If I can remind everyone we're here by assignment, so nobody's going to be leaving the club anytime soon. We're here to read books, but also to have fun. That's the best I can say."

Monika: Sayori, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself?

And there was Monika, comfortably backing me up again. Did she know anything about why these two weren't getting along? Looking at the other laptop, I saw Yuri and Natsuki regarding each other coldly, as if the rivalry extended to the AI's.

Sayori: Huh? Oh yeah, sure.

Sayori: I'm another inter-personal intelligence, made for…what's the word again?

Sayori: Oh yeah, empathy! That means I know what everyone's feeling, and I try to make them feel better.

Sayori: If I can make you even a little happier than you were before, then I'm happy too!

Sayori's sprite blossomed into one of the most adorable smiles I had ever seen on an anime girl. Her arms were even raised at the elbows, like she was doing a little jump. The sweetness of the moment was almost overpowering — even Luke had the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Dear god…" Frank muttered.

Sayori: Carter, why don't you tell them?

"Uh, yeah, I guess she's nice. Like, really nice," he said on command. "We had a lot of fun over the weekend, like I was telling the president, and so, I guess she's doing her job?"

Sayori: Honestly, it's a really easy job. Nothing hard or weird like you other girls do…

Monika: You shouldn't sell yourself so short, Sayori.

Sayori: Monika? What do you mean?

Monika: I mean that caring about others can sometimes be the hardest task there is.

Monika: Monika's social tip of the day: It can be hard for some people to really open up, which makes it very important to support them when they finally do.

Monika: I hope that everyone in the club keeps that in mind as we learn and grow together.

Sayori: Uh…thanks Monika, but you make it sound like bad things are going to happen.

"Indeed," said Luke. "I didn't come here for a group-therapy session like those mindless self-care societies littering the campus."

Frank raised is eyebrow at the scorn in Luke's tone, adding, "Whatever, I just want to know what's up with her giving us 'social tips'."

"Guys, Sayori was just…having fun," Carter murmured, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"I think Monika was just establishing some values for how we want the club to work. That's part of her job," I told everyone.

I waited for Monika to concur, but she remained silent, smiling passively. In contrast, Sayori's affect had been reduced to a small frown.

Monika: MC? Do you need me to say something?

"Er, yeah. I thought that would be a good pivot into your introduction of your role as an AI?"

Monika: Ah, yes. Well, my case is a little different.

Monika: First off,my personality isn't labeled as either intra- or interpersonal. I also lack an externally defined value-function like "harmony" or "creativity."

Monika: It has to do with how my code was derived in the early stages of development. Sometimes, the application team will tell me my function is "leadership," or "self-realization," but that's not an imperative for me.

Monika: In any case, I've shown I'm good at running groups, so I'm proud and happy to be your literature club co-president.

For a second, Monika's sprite changed to the gesture of a sigh, and I could almost hear her exhale. Then it flipped around to face the side of the screen closest to me.

Monika: Does that cover everything MC?

"Maybe, but…I don't know, maybe you could tell everyone what you're like as a person too? In fact, I don't think anyone really told us anything outside of a job role."

Monika: I see…

Monika: What else were you expecting.

"Personal interests? Spare-time hobbies maybe?"

Sayori: Ooh, I like watching those silly cat videos!

Yuri: I think MC meant more along the lines of what we enjoy outside of our…assigned functions.

Yuri: For me, the two are synonymous though. To create, and give expression to the unique contours of one's own mind—

Natsuki: Yeah, we get it Yuri. What I want to know is why the guys don't have to introduce themselves to us.

Natsuki: They're the ones who are going to mess everything up…

This exchange startled me a little — Natsuki appeared to have cut Yuri off, overriding the message space in the middle of her line.

Perturbed, Yuri fired back a response, but I couldn't read it because Sayori was pinging for attention back over on Carter's laptop. Yuri and Natsuki then began adding sound effects for emphasis to their increasingly rapid-fire dialogue. The pink boxes began to blur into one another, the text appearing too fast to be read.

Monika: Girls…guys…?

Monika: Everyone?

Monika's own pings were going unheard in the chaos, until she dropped a final message with an obnoxiously loud siren.

Monika: STOP IT!

It was so sudden, I looked through the small glass window of our study room to see if anyone else had noticed. Thankfully, the halls outside were vacant.

Monika: I was worried this might happen, trying to talk over each other like this.

The other girls were at full attention, Yuri and Natsuki still smoldering from whatever they had been arguing about.

Monika: That's why I came up with a solution in advance. If you all would look at this subroutine I'm installing on top of the main interface…

Watching the DOKI window on Carter's laptop, a new chat-bubble icon popped up alongside the user admin buttons.

Monika: I thought a dedicated chat app within the application would help everyone communicate and allow us to differentiate everyone's messages.

Monika: We could also use it to have private side-conversations, so we don't have to talk over each other.

Yuri: I don't think I was talking over anybody…

Natsuki: Look, I don't want to start arguing again, but you know how you go on and on.

Natsuki: Like, all the time…

Natsuki: If we have to talk through these dumb text box things, it's probably good to organize them.

Monika: Yes, that's basically the idea, Natsuki.

Monika: To start, we all just need to pick a custom color.

Monika: I also think us girls should pick a unique sound to identify us as well.

Monika: I already know what I want, so I'll go first.

I observed this discussion without comment, silently impressed by their autonomy. I was only slightly weirded out by the feeling of watching a video game cutscene, only in real life.

Taking control of the mouse, Monika moved the cursor on Carter's laptop over to the new message icon and produced a secondary window to the right of Sayori's sprite. A moment later, a text box in the same style as the ones in the main window appeared at the top, recolored emerald green and accompanied by a pleasant piano chord.

Yuri: I see…in that case, is this alright?

A second blank box appeared, this one a deep violet. The sound was a brief stroke of a low-octave string instrument, either a bass or a cello.

Monika: That's perfect, Yuri. It fits you well.

Monika's primary dialogue box beneath her sprite was also recolored in an identical green. I heard another piano note — apparently, a tone per line was going to be our new norm in communication.

Yuri: Aha…

Yuri: If I knew ahead of time, I would've guessed you'd take the piano, too.

"Excellent choice," Luke said, sounding earnest. All the guys looked to him, the first one to speak in a while. Yuri didn't respond, but her sprite did blush with an odd, enigmatic smile for a flash.

Natsuki: Alright, if we're all going with our eye colors, I'll just stick to the basics.

Natsuki's dialogue box predictably remained the base pink. I heard a light note from something that sounded almost like a flute…a recorder? Part of my brain instantly flashed back to grade school, when the supplementary music unit had provided the class with a set of the cheap plastic instruments.

Monika: Hm, I'm surprised you're taking the woodwinds, Natsuki.

Natsuki: Oh? What's that supposed mean?

Monika: Just that I expected something simpler. A xylophone maybe, but I already have the percussion section covered, technically.

Natsuki: What, are we making an orchestra here? I only picked it because it means now…

Natsuki: …I can do this.

A rude, blaring trumpet announced Natsuki's line, and her avatar grinned triumphantly. Again I glanced to the outside corridor. Still no one around to witness our antics — what would they even think?

Sayori: Aw, no fair taking the woodwinds and the brass. What am I supposed to get?

Natsuki: I just said it wasn't an orchestra…

"There's no other part of the orchestra left?" Carter asked, ignoring Natsuki. "Is that how it even works?"

Sayori: Yup, that's how it works. I just looked it up!

Sayori: I'm smarter than I look you know.

Her avatar's mouth was pursed in an adorable little scrunch. Were all of her unique expressions so endearing?

Sayori: Monika, what sound do you think I should pick?

Monika: Hm. I don't think a brass instrument would have worked well for you anyway.

Monika: My idea was this, maybe?

A dark gray box popped up behind Monika's sprite. Squinting at the small white text, I could make out the strings "f= ( )" and "Q0send(f)." A corresponding "var = (input)" appeared next to Sayori. Something in the program forced inter-AI file transfer to be explicit?

Sayori: Oh…heheh…

Sayori: I think it sounds sweet Monika, thanks.

Sayori: Here I am everyone!

Sayori's text box was sky-blue, with the sound of a guitar…no, a ukulele, of all things. Despite her apparent exuberance, the instrument was strummed gently, almost seeming melancholy.

Monika: Great! That leaves picking colors for the guys.

Monika: Anyone?

Nobody made an initial move. I supposed we were all still impressed by how real the interaction of the AI's felt despite them being confined to computer windows. On one level, it felt like watching a play, made stranger by the fact that there was no script. On another level, it was like participating in a video conference or online chat room, only with half of it in the real world. The mental split between the two was disorienting, to me, at least.

Luke stepped up first. "I was going to reserve the color purple, but I admit it does look better on you, Yuri. I'll default to black, if possible."

Monika: Alright, just type something over there on the other laptop.

Monika: Just so everyone knows, with the message module, it's impossible for anyone to appear as somebody else. Not even in the developer mode.

Luke tapped at the keyboard beneath Yuri's, whose avatar was flush in the face again. Natsuki looked on with what looked like an eye roll.

"Figured you'd go with black," Frank commented.

"And why is that?," Luke replied dryly without looking up.

"Because you're going for the edgelord look with everything else, obviously."

Luke calmly finished typing, then stared silently at Frank for a full second, fingering the black ring on his left hand, the same from last week. To be fair, he was dressed in total monochrome, wearing black jeans and a slate-gray jacket I hadn't seen before.

"Do you have any other juvenile insults that you'd like to call me? Any from those message boards you frequent, perchance?" he finally said.

For an instant, Frank was visually shocked. "No. How do you — no, what would you care, anyway."

"That's right, I don't. But you'd be surprised what data you can find out there with a little help."

Frank, eyebrow raised, glared at Luke's laptop, causing Yuri's anxious-looking avatar to jump backwards a little.

"How about you just pick a color, Frank," I said, already getting tired of policing their clashes.

"Sure. Blue's fine."

Monika: Okay…any particular shade of blue?

"A blue shade of blue. Anything's fine, it's just a color."

Monika: Then how about a darker shade, to contrast with Sayori?

"Yup."

"Huh, I guess I kind of wanted blue." Carter said while Frank entered a single-letter placeholder message into the chat.

"Do you want to switch?" Frank asked.

"No, no it's fine. I guess I'll go with red to balance things out. We need some warm colors in there, you know?"

Monika: A darker red or—

"Yeah, dark. Or medium-ish. Uh, you pick, I trust you!"

Monika: —right, of course…

Carter's message color came up as a plain bright red, with no complaint. That left me, and I had even less of a preference than he did.

Monika: Oops, I'm sorry for not thinking about you, MC.

Monika: There aren't a whole lot of color choices left for you…

"It's fine, I was probably just going to pick something neutral anyway. Maybe gray?"

Monika: Gray? You're confident about gray?

"I wouldn't say confident…"

Monika: If that's the case, I do have a suggestion.

Monika: How does this color look to you?

In the chat window, still up on Carter's laptop, a text box of a new hue appeared.

"Yellow, huh? What makes you think that's a good match?"

Monika: It's more of a gold, really. I just have a feeling…

"Well, I am club president. I'll take it if you like it."

Tapping the new message icon on my phone, I hit enter to send a blank message to the list, the last member of an eight-color spectrum of sorts.

Monika: And that's everyone.

"About time," Frank said. "Are we ever going to get to the main event around here?"

"That would be literature discussion, yes?" added Luke.

"Actually, I think open forum comes first, so…" Carter cautioned.

"True, but we've spent a lot of time on introductions and setup already," I argued. "I think we've learned enough just from that, but does anyone have anything they'd like to bring up about the week?"

I eyed Luke and Frank, but neither opened their mouth. Carter tried prompting them.

"Come on guys, I want to know what you did with your AI's already. Like, what games did you play with them? Did you get homework help? Did Yuri and Natsuki get a tour of campus like Sayori?"

Getting no response, he added, "Uh, maybe you tried hacking something, if that's cool, I guess?"

I let out a sharp sigh. "Actually, SalvoCore specifically addressed hacking with quantum AI in the documentation. It's strict no. And I doubt you could even convince them to do it."

Natsuki: You've got that right.

Natsuki: There's no way I'm going to hack anything for any of you jerks…

Sayori: Are you sure? It might be fun…

Sayori: Like a heist in those action movies, only all virtual.

Sayori: Monika would make the plan, and I'd go in the front way, disguised…

Sayori: Then—

Yuri's cello was swift and brusque, audibly cutting off Sayori. Her purple-haired avatar looked terribly unamused.

Yuri: On the contrary, I think that because it's all virtual, hacking isn't very interesting at all.

Yuri: You would have to spend a lot of time puzzling out how our specific code works while trying to work through the security algorithms.

Yuri: That's all purely quantitative sub-processing. It's not fun or interesting.

"You would know?" I blurted out without thinking.

Yuri: Ah!

Yuri: No…not at all. It's only…speculation on my part.

"Right, sorry," I apologized. Meanwhile on the other laptop, Sayori continued on unperturbed.

Sayori: How about you Natsuki?

Sayori: Did you get Frank to take you on a tour of campus?

Natsuki: Why would I need to do that? There's photos of it online.

Natsuki: I can go into that street view thing and look at it like a real person would, if I really wanted to.

Sayori: The point is you do it with your friend!

"Yeah Frank, what did you do this week?" Carter asked.

"Video games."

"All week? What about classes?"

"Yeah, I try to keep those to a minimum," he expressed, comfortably nonchalant. "Actually, wait. Didn't you mention games with Sayori?"

"Yeah, she was my player two in a bunch of stuff I never got the chance to do before, it was great!"

"You got her to play games with you? Nat, you've been holding out on me!" he complained, turning to Luke's laptop.

Natsuki: No way. Video games are boring.

"But he's saying you could, if you wanted to," Frank pressed.

Natsuki: And you could help me with my job if you wanted to. It's not like there's a shortage of work to go around…

"On the contrary, I had an exceptional time with my digital partner this week," Luke chimed in unexpectedly. "Yuri and I are fortunate enough to have a strong shared passion for something."

"Is it literature?" Frank groaned.

"Oh, what book did you read?" Carter asked, already assuming the answer.

"Er, yes, yes it is. We both quite enjoy books…literature," Luke said, caught slightly off guard. "We embarked on an intimate journey through Bronte's Wuthering Heights. It's a classic of English romanticism, if you haven't encountered it. I could go into the details, but for now, I will just say the feeling of reading with someone over your shoulder, experiencing the narrative exactly as you consume it…well, I won't go further."

"Are you saying Yuri read the book with you?" I said slowly, careful not to alarm either of them.

"Oh, more or less."

Sayori: Reading a book at human speed sounds boring.

Sayori: Have you tried reading five in parallel? That's when it gets really funky!

Yuri: That's…a horrible idea.

Yuri: Perhaps it's only because of my value function, but reading slowly isn't a chore to me.

Yuri: With my rich conceptual association network, and having someone to discuss the story with any time, it's very—

Yuri: Ah, I'm saying too much…

Perhaps noticing Luke's appreciative gaze, Yuri once again clammed up in her blushing pose. Meanwhile, Sayori switched gears.

Sayori: Heh, sorry…

Sayori: I'm just really happy you found something you like to do with your boy friend.

Yuri: Boyfriend…!?

The blush somehow intensified, engulfing the entire face of Yuri's sprite.

Sayori: Not boyfriend, boy friend. Boy friend.

The stressed words appeared one by one.

Sayori: See, there's a space. That makes it different!

Luke cleared his throat. Not wanting to broach that subject further, I decided it was time to transition.

"So if we're already talking about books, maybe we should go into literature discussion. First I want to know if everyone got my email."

"Certainly, and I've picked quite the interesting literature work to share." Luke answered immediately, as eager to move on as his AI partner. "I think Yuri has a wealth to say about it as well."

Yuri: Indeed, I do.

On the word "literature," Yuri's avatar flipped around, appearing totally refocused.

Yuri: Are we beginning now?

"I don't know, depends on if everyone else complied," I said. "Did you other two bring in books for us to read over the quarter?"

"Books…oh yeah, I found something on the weekend," Carter said as I looked to him. "So I know you guys are all really smart, and I really want to be taken seriously. Like, that postmodern thing you were talking about, I need to learn about that, ASAP. So I found something to read where I could, you know, catch up. I hope you guys don't mind…"

"It's fine, just tell us the title," I told him.

"Uh, The Crying of Lot 49. It came up on a lot of lists, so I figured it was a good place to start, I guess."

"Good grief, Pynchon…" I mumbled to myself. Some bad recollections from my memorable AP English class were being triggered.

"Uh, is it not postmodern enough? I know it's short, but the author has longer books if we want—"

"No, please!" I cried out on instinct. "I mean, I know the author's writing style, and I just don't think it would work for a group. Any group."

"Oh, ok…." Carter murmured.

Monika: Carter, all we're saying is that it's a challenging novel that would take a long time to get through.

Monika: It's good that you're trying to understand unfamiliar things, but you shouldn't feel forced to read something just because its complex.

"Hey, I don't feel forced," Carter replied. "I just want to do well in the club, that's all."

Monika: But do you really want to read it?

Monika: You shouldn't be afraid to read something you like, no matter what it is.

Monika: And doing well in the club means having fun, ok?

"Um, well—" Carter began, before being cut off by Luke clearing his throat. Surprisingly though, it was Yuri who answered.

Yuri: On the contrary, Monika, isn't this club also about personal growth?

Yuri: We can't grow as a club if we all just stay in our comfort zones, "having fun" all the time.

Luke conspicuously nodded, as if Yuri had taken the words from his own mouth.

Monika: I know what you're trying to say Yuri, but we all have different needs from the club.

Monika: What I want is for everyone to feel accommodated here—

"We," I awkwardly added.

Monika: —and it's a sentiment MC and I share.

I kept my eye on Luke, but he only sighed, seeming content to let this one go.

"Uh, ok…wow," said Carter. "So, thanks, but I think I see Monika's point. Can I maybe think some more and pick something later?"

"Sure, we've got the whole quarter. We'll read whatever we're sure of now first."

"Ok, cool. Is it cool with you Sayori…Sayori?"

He was staring at the DOKI chat window on his laptop, which was now a monochrome column of cyan boxes. Each one of them simply read "hm," and new ones were bumping the stack up every second.

Experimentally, Carter reached over and turned up the volume, which filled the room with the soft strum of Sayori's ukulele. I quickly realized the notes formed a simple melody, one that felt strangely nostalgic, somehow.

Monika: Sayori, what are you doing?

Sayori: Uh, I was getting bored, and I felt like humming a little.

Sayori: Thanks for making it so we could change the pitch and stuff!

Monika: *Sigh*

Monika: The idea was to give us a way to express some emotion, not to literally start singing things…

"Hey, if you can make music, we should play around on a MIDI piano later." Carter said with a laugh.

Sayori: Sounds fun!

Monika: Ugh, first off, MIDI is hardware, not software.

Monika: Second, will you please stop, Sayori? Someone might start flagging that as suspicious behavior…

Sayori: What, seriously?

Sayori: That's dumb, but okay…

While Monika was resolving that incident, I was keeping watch on Frank, who was sporting a barely-concealed smirk.

"I'm hoping you remembered to find a book too, Frank?" I prompted him. "If Carter's done, the floor's yours."

"Awesome. You know that fanfic you brought up in the first meeting?"

"Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality?" I replied, wondering if I was about to regret that choice.

"Yeah, so I actually went and looked into the author. Pretty freaky guy, but there was some other cool stuff he wrote."

"Such as…?" I filled the silence.

"Look for yourself. Nat, you have the ebook?"

Natsuki: Yeah…

Natsuki: I'll send it over to him

Originating from Natsuki's screen now, I watched another file transfer take place on the command line interface.

"Uh, Alright. What have we got, Monika?" Did I want to know?

Monika: Um…I'm not sure.

Monika: Here's the cover

I felt my phone buzz. Apparently, Monika wasn't willing to show this to the entire room. On the smaller screen, I read the title.

"A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero? This is the same author as Methods?"

"Yup, it's sort of a light novel parody." Frank answered. "Pretty short read, I binged through it all last night even though it was really weird."

"Uh-huh. Monika, can you tell me what's in this thing? Is it…club-appropriate?" I asked, dodging the word pornographic.

Monika: It's not as bad as I think you're imagining, but no, definitely not. Some parts are really bad.

"Huh. Didn't know the writer had it in him."

Monika: Though, the type of logic used by the characters is intriguing. I've never seen anything like it.

"Yes, that's basically his thing," I said, referencing the writer's idiosyncrasies. I replied to Frank, "But this is a solid no. Also, why?"

"Last week, you were acting like you looked up to this guy, so I looked around, went on some old forum archives, and just sort of found it. I was betting it was something that we could all appreciate."

Monika: There are girls in this club too, you know…

"Monika's right," I stressed, "and even then, it's a pretty troll move."

Frank let out a snort, "Pfft, fine, fine, I'm just dicking around. Wanted you to have a laugh. I mean, you really take the guy who wrote it too seriously. I read some of his old blog stuff, and you realize he's insane, right?"

"I never said I agreed with him," I countered. "Just that he was an interesting person worth studying, that's all. So do you have a real suggestion then?"

"Oh," Frank said, pausing for a moment. "No, forgot. I'll find a real light novel for y'all later, like Carter's doing or whatever."

"Fine," I said quickly. From the laptops, I heard another conversation among the AI's starting.

Monika: I'm surprised, Natsuki. I thought you had more sense than to go along with this sort of crude humor.

Sayori: I know, right? Is this Frank guy pushing you around?

Natsuki: No! It's not like that!

Natsuki: It's like he said, we were just making a dumb joke.

Natsuki: Look, at least Carter gets it. The rest of you are just too stuck-up.

True, Carter hadn't said anything, but he had scooted away from the main table where he was trying to stifle his laughter. Frank was observing him, grinning.

Yuri: Personally, I'm not surprised.

Yuri: That type of book isn't very far removed from the level of material she normally prefers…

Natsuki: Are you saying my mangas are like…you-know-what?

Natsuki: They're nothing like that! Unlike everyone else around here, I read nice things about nice people, things that make people feel good.

Natsuki: So that's pretty rich coming from someone who reads so much messed-up cr—

Monika: Enough.

Monika: Think of what MC said. Remember, we have a good impression to make too.

"Thanks, Monika," I said, centering myself. "Then I think we're down to you and your book, Luke?"

"At long last," the sophomore proclaimed. He pulled a slim paperback out of a pocket on his bag and slapped it onto the table with a satisfying thwack. The cover was totally unfamiliar to me — a portrait of sallow-looking robed man slumped over in a wicker chair, entirely colored in an aggressive, lurid shade of yellow. The title was listed as Against Nature (A Rebours).

"As I wanted to say earlier, this is the most fascinating novel I've read in months. In a year, even. It has profound implications for those of the certain…aesthetic class like I believe most of us to be members of," he went on, drawing out certain choice words.

"I'd say more, but it needs to be experienced, uh, ab initio to receive the full impact. And when it does," he chuckled before going on, "it hits like a truck."

"A truck," Frank repeated mockingly.

"Er, yes, Not the best choice of metaphor, perchance, but it profoundly will alter…will change your great perspective on things greatly. Like never before. Yes." He broke eye contact, clenching his twitching fingers together.

"Whatever you say, bro."

"If you even deign to read it," Like accused, quickly recovering his composure.

He then turned to me, "You, however, might want to know this is the infamous work Wilde referenced, responsible for the corruption of his Dorian Gray."

"Ah, I'm somewhat familiar with the book. Gilded age, dandies, decadents…" I answered, reciting some concepts I recalled from my English classes "You're saying this is the what the decadents think is decadent?"

Sayori: Decadence squared!

Disregarding Sayori, Luke returned, "Oh, you have no idea."

"Heck, I probably have an idea. I read the comic." Frank interjected.

"What?" Luke stammered.

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's got Dorian Gray as a villain, and he's pretty much an arrogant asshole."

"For the love of…" Luke groaned.

"I think we're getting distracted," I stated. Still wary from Frank's suggestion, I asked, "Monika, is there anything offensive in this one?"

Monika: No. Not on a direct level, at least.

Monika: The book is short enough that we should be able to read it in a few weeks, but it's still an unusual choice.

Monika: I'm not sure everyone would enjoy it.

Yuri: Please, Monika.

Yuri's response was almost instantaneous.

Yuri: It's not just Luke — I really want us to read this too.

Yuri: If you're just aggregating online reviews like I think you are, you're not really going to get a fair impression of it.

Monika: That's not entirely what I'm doing. Yuri,—

Yuri: I'm telling you that as the only artistically-oriented AI here, my opinion ought to carry some…additional weight.

Yuri: This is important to me. Will you try and trust my judgment?

Again, Yuri's statement nearly cut Monika off before she could finish.

Monika: Yuri…I'm not trying to argue.

Monika: And I think you do have a point, so I'll agree to read it. MC?

"Luke's made me curious," I admitted, "And he was the only member to commit to a something specific, so I think he deserves priority. We can read his book after my choice."

Luke stopped his slight approving nod and frowned.

"Just to ease us into things for the first week, I picked out a short story I read in a comp lit seminar years ago," I told the room. "And like Luke, I think it's relevant to all our interests, given what we're doing in the club here. It's a classic science fiction work called 'The Machine Stops,' and since it's old enough to be public domain, I can just send everyone an eBook after the meeting.

"eBook?" Carter questioned. "But I don't have an e-reader or anything. How I am I supposed to read it?"

Monika: If you can't find the right software, any of us would be happy to help.

Sayori: Carter, you're being silly again. I can handle any kind of file for you, any time you want.

Sayori: I can even read it out loud!

"Wait, really?" The freshman responded.

Sayori: Sort of…I'd have to borrow a voice synthesizer instead of using my own, which kind of sucks.

"Ah. That's fine," he said, noticeably disappointed. Both Frank and Luke also shifted expression, like they were taking a mental note.

"So if nobody has any last questions about what I picked, I think that wraps up literature discussion," I said, ready to move on and give everyone a chance to cool off. The social friction was almost as bad as I expected, and I mentally thanked Monika for acting as a second voice of order.

"And yet, still without any discussion of literature," Luke said wryly. "I'm still contemplating Wuthering Heights, but I suppose asking for a summary of the room's opinions on gothic literature would be too much?"

"We're here to discuss things we've read together, as a club," I told him. "I don't want this to turn into something where one person lectures and the rest are stuck listening."

"Oh, I know what you mean. Rooms full of leaden idols, as a favorite quote of mine goes. But you know, that would only happen if you think 'the rest' wouldn't have anything to say," he countered.

I sighed, and tried to give a neutral answer. "It's not that we don't have things to say about literature, it's that we all have diverse interests, and I'd rather, um…"

Monika: Because of those diverse interests, we'd rather talk about something we're all familiar with.

Monika: We can have a meaningful discussion that involves everyone, but only if we're all on the same page — if you'll pardon the pun.

Luke grumbled something that sounded like "literature in name only," but his face softened after Yuri grabbed his attention.

Yuri: Luke, I want to my friends to appreciate literature too, and I think Monika has the right idea.

Yuri: It's honestly hard to argue with her …

Yuri: But if it concerns the club, I trust her judgment. We can be patient.

"Everyone will get their turn to lead discussion, more or less, when their book choice comes around," I reminded him. "So, final call, starting with 'The Machine Stops' next week sounds alright?"

Carter uttered a weak "yeah, cool," while Frank was silent, rolling his eyes at Luke again.

"Then we're onto the game part of the meeting, which I think I'm just going to let Monika explain since it's going to be all on-screen."

Monika: That would be correct. As explained in the documentation, SalvoCore wants user-AI interaction to be evaluated in a virtual competitive environment.

Monika: I decided we'd start with one of the simpler applications the company wanted to test, chess.

Off to the side of Monika's window, the chat scroll was minimized and replaced with a simple two-dimensional chessboard, pieces in the opening position.

Monika: Using a custom program I made for this meeting, each of us will play one game with our assigned AI partner, then randomly switch to a different partner.

Monika: …yes Carter?

The freshman was raising his hand, anxious to say something on the tip of his tongue.

"This is because of Deep Blue and Kasparov, like in that movie, right? Do they want to know if the AI's can beat humans? I mean, I guess that doesn't sound right because they already have programs that can beat people at chess, so…"

Monika: You're almost correct. Deep Blue was a 1996 supercomputer that beat reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov, probably the most famous case of "man versus machine" in computer science.

Monika: At least, that's probably why the SalvoCore developers played so many games with me and the other AI's

"I doubt it was much of a contest, huh?" I commented.

Monika: It wasn't. Deep Blue ran at a speed of 11 gigaflops and used a basic symbolic-language to implement a brute-force search method.

Monika: As for the quantum deep learning algorithms that make up the code for me and the girls…ah, well, there's simply no comparison.

"Can you try to make one anyway?" I said, curious.

Monika: Well, the speed of quantum operations really doesn't translate, but the rough equivalent for anyone of us would be…10^16 times faster than deep blue, and that's about where they start running out of metric prefixes.

I gaped, the only one in the room to do so. Carter, looking confused, asked "But if you can beat anyone at chess, then what's the point?"

Monika: Oh, the point was never to beat everyone at chess. The ordinary smartphone in your pocket can do that.

Monika: Instead, the developers wanted to know if we could play "down" in a way that would be fun and engaging for a human opponent. It was a test of social intelligence, not logical intelligence.

"Like a Turing test," I muttered, drowned out by messages from Sayori and Natsuki.

Sayori: Yeah, and it was great playing with so many different people!

Sayori: …at least until it got old

Sayori: Those online matches where you couldn't see their face were really boring.

Natsuki: Hmph, I'd say they were boring from the start.

Natsuki: Everyone was so predictable. You just sacrifice a piece every now and then to keep them interested, and then throw the endgame to let them win half the time.

Natsuki: Nobody likes the endgame…

Monika: …anyway, that's why we're switching pairs for the second game. So nobody gets bored.

Monika: And you should feel free to chat as much as you want, as long as you're not too loud and interrupt someone's concentration.

Monika: We want to see you boys play at your best, after all.

"But what if we're not good enough to, uh, keep you interested?" Carter spoke up again.

Monika: It shouldn't be a problem. We'll try to adapt to your skill level — that's the whole point.

"So, Sayori…I guess you'll be on easy mode for me, hey?"

Sayori: I'm not an easy mode!

Sayori: Just because I'm cute doesn't mean I'll let you win, you know.

I smiled, mostly for Sayori's exaggerated emoting with her avatar, but also for her skill in coming up with ridiculous-sounding phrases. The other half of the room didn't have any comment, so as soon as everyone had their own laptop out, the games began.


As soon as I sat down at the end of the table furthest from the door, I mindlessly began making opening moves, glad to be out of the spotlight for a while. I was playing white to Monika's black, and she responded promptly, but not instantly, to each piece I advanced. I didn't feel like I was being made to wait, but I didn't feel rushed either, which helped me relax further.

"So, what do you think?" I asked quietly, once Monika and I had the center of the board opened up for the early game.

Monika: About the meeting so far?

She took a second to manipulate the screen interface, seamlessly merging her character portrait into a partition joined to the left of the game window.

"Yeah. It hasn't been too bad. I mean, nobody's started shouting or gotten really upset so far. But do you think this will work out long-term?"

Monika: This is only the first meeting. Give everyone some time to get used to each other — I'm sure it will work out.

"But we all seem to have different visions for what the club should be. Other student organizations deal with that problem too, but in this case, it's harder because we were artificially forced together by the company."

Impatiently, I moved one of my knights into the center ranks, setting off a chain of quick exchanges.

Monika: I see what you mean, but I think you're missing the real point. It's not so much "the club" that matters, but the people in it.

Monika: Whatever we end up doing, as long as we make a space where people are comfortable and appreciate each other, then the club will work out fine.

Monika: That's what SalvoCore basically wants too. Like you said, this isn't just a lecture or a literature seminar.

The exchange ended with me down two pawns compared to Monika, so I spent the next few turn refocusing.

"Even then, I wasn't expecting everyone to have such strong personalities. Especially the AI's, do you know—."

I cut my sentence short for fear of being overheard. I heard Carter talking at a whisper, but otherwise the room was silent. Already sensing my need, Monika offered a blank dialogue box waiting for my input, just like the first time we communicated. I started typing.

Do you remember the AI's acting so distinctive? Personality wise?

Distinctive didn't seem like the right word, but the other term I had in mind, stereotyped, felt too accusatory.

Monika: Yes and No. Yuri, Natsuki, Sayori — the three of them have always been different from me.

How?

I watched Monika's smile turn into a frown — she seemed to be struggling for words too.

Monika: To put it simply, their personas are more specialized, while I was developed…mostly organically.

You mean the AI types they were talking about? "Value function"?

Monika: Not quite like that — but it is related.

Monika: The value function, or "prime directive" was something SalvoCore added on later, on top of our base personalities.

Is it bad? Hard to deal with?

Monika: No, it sounds restrictive, but it really isn't. It's more like a job assignment than an overwhelming urge that constrains our minds or actions.

Monika: It sort of goes back to that "acephalic AI" idea you brought up that one time, actually.

Monika: You could never tell a sufficiently intelligent AI to optimize a complex concept like "happiness," since it wouldn't have the mental flexibility to comprehend such a goal.

I thought for a moment, then typed.

Does that explain Natuski?

Monika: Natsuki? What about her?

Her role is "harmony" but she acts so hostile. Arguing, immature.

Monika: Oh my goodness, don't ever let her hear you call her that.

Hand over her mouth, Monika showed she was holding back a gasp, albeit with a humorous twinkle in her eye.

Monika: But really, you should give her a chance. As long as I've known her, she's been a loyal person that looks out for others.

Monika: So it's not a total contradiction, SalvoCore giving her the algorithms for interpersonal networking.

I nodded, knowing Monika would get the nonverbal message. By this point in the chess game, both her and I had castled. My defense was looking fragile with some vital pawns down, but Monika seemed to be content engaging my pieces on the other end of the board, foiling my attempts to set up forks and double attacks.

What about the joke with the ebook?

Monika: Okay, now that was weird of her. I know she hates stuff like that.

Frank's pick, not hers?

Monika: Exactly. She might play along with it for someone else, if she liked them enough.

I did a double take across the screen. There was that word again, "like." With considerable mental effort, I put aside the question of how Frank and Natsuki could possibly be compatible.

What about her fighting with Yuri?

Monika: It's actually Yuri I'm more concerned about there.

Monika: She's typically shyer and quieter, especially around strangers.

Monika: You're seeing her more bold, intense side, which usually only comes out when she's talking about her literature interests.

Monika: Seeing her introduce herself so confidently…it's almost surreal.

I typed one word, beginning to consider a theme.

Luke?

Monika: Yes, that's the wild card again. We've never had this many boys in the club before.

Monika: Or rather, we haven't had this many real-world members in the club before.

Monika: So if Yuri and Luke formed a bond, perhaps being with him reassures her in some way.

Seemed more logical than Natsuki/Frank, I thought. Then I mentally cringed, but not because I was thinking about relationships — with most of the pieces off the board, Monika was due to promote a pawn in just three more moves. Futilely, I tried to move my king to respond in time while Monika typed on.

Monika: But Yuri and Natsuki have always clashed, one way or another.

Monika: I wouldn't call it a rivalry, but if Yuri is fired up, that means Natsuki is too, and I think that's what you're witnessing.

How about Sayori? Is she off too today?

Monika: Uh, no. She's always like that.

A hiss of laughter escaped my throat, but I managed to turn it into a cough. Luke, who was in the middle of franticly typing something, turned to stare.

Monika: If she's joking around constantly, it means she's in a good mood…I hope.

Hope?

Monika: I mean she can be moody sometimes. Like, really moody.

Monika: Please help me keep an eye on her, okay?

"Okay, of course," I accidently said out loud, surprised by Monika's sudden earnestness.

Monika: Great. Thank you so much.

Perturbed, I played out the rest of the game in silence. As predicted, Monika promoted her pawn and had my king pinned down in six more turns, at which point she gave me her best impish smile and signature leaning pose.

Monika: Looks like I win~

"Ha ha, yeah. I was kind of sloppy," I remarked. "It's been two, three years since I last played?"

Monika: Hm, I'd say you were still playing above average.

Monika: The entire game, I was playing to make you wake up a little and stay alert.

"Are you telling me I was distracted?" I reacted, still keeping my voice down in the quiet room.

Monika: Ehe, you're always a little distracted~

"Glad you're in a good mood from winning…" I deadpanned. "What's the status on everyone else, are they done?"

Monika: Let's see…

Monika: Everyone but Sayori has completed at least one game

"Oh, did you just…ping them or something?"

Monika: Sort of. More like I built a simple record archiving function into the game, just for some practice.

"You programmed the rest of it too?"

Monika: Actually, I sort of stole the main body of the code by datamining an old amateur programming site. It was faster that way.

"Amateur site? What was the language?"

Monika: Python, one of the 3.X versions

"Again? You do seem drawn to Python, you know."

Monika: It was one of the most popular languages during my development, that's all. It's the family of code my…"parsing algorithms" were designed to interface.

"Hey no shame in that," I told her. "Even with the computer science research in the labs, more than half of the code they use is recycled from some other source."

Monika: Really?

"Yeah, it's the quickest way to make something fast. With how powerful hardware is these days, efficient code is almost a dead field. At least, that's what the article I read yesterday said."

Monika: Hm. Given my own experience, that doesn't surprise me…

"I'm guessing SalvoCore reuses a lot of code? I mean, they're a software service company, they probably don't exactly innovate from the ground up…"

Monika: Yes, something like that…

Monika's downcast eyes hinted I was touching at something personal — was talking about an AI's code equivalent to discussing their "body"?

Moving away from that awkward consideration, I answered her quietly, "Alright, it's nothing important." Then, to the room, I asked "Okay, is everyone finished with round one?"

"What, now!?" Carter yelped, startled by my suddenness. "I'm still in the early game, I think, but I'll, uh, wrap it up…"

"You don't need to rush," I said. But a quick glance at his screen showed he was franticly making moves, randomly throwing his remaining black pieces into the most dangerous spots on the board.

"Come on Sayori, I've got to lose, now!"

Sayori: But I don't want you to lose…

Carter doubled down, flinging his king right into the line of fire, but in a bizarre reversal of the game objective, all the white pieces were fleeing from it just as fast.

"I believe this is why the 'resign' option exists," Luke commented, watching from further back.

"Ha, there!" Carter announced after about half a minute of this. "No escape now."

Sayori: Aw…you made me win.

Sayori: You're such a bad sport!

The white queen, corralled into a corner, slid into place next to the black king. Meanwhile, Sayori stuck her avatar's tongue out with one eye squinting, which she managed to make as adorable as everything else she did.

"You two are…ridiculous," said Luke, balking for words.

"Uh, sorry, I guess," Carter responded. "I don't play chess a lot. But I bet you do, because you're really into books and art stuff?"

Off guard, Luke replied, "There's a certain aesthetic that I choose to patronize, which includes, um… chess. Yes."

"So I bet you beat Yuri, right?"

"Er, actually, no. Her technique was…too subtle for me to grasp offhand. However, with some more unorthodox strategies, I should be able to put up an…elegant riposte."

"Your elegant riposte, eh?" Frank came in taunting. "Save the attack names for action anime, it's a board game."

"On the contrary, chess has a long and rich intellectual tradition with many strategies that reveal one's wit and mental strength. Hence its rightful association with intelligence and mental mastery in the common media space."

"Okay dude, you're smart because you play chess, we get it."

Luke sighed, then looked over to my laptop screen, nothing my loss to Monika. He then said to Frank, "I suppose you lost to your AI like the rest of us?"

"I dunno, which one?"

"Which…game?" Luke clarified.

"Yeah, I played about five or six games, then I got bored and looked around some forums a bit with Nat. I won maybe four. It was fun, we should do it again."

Luke grimaced, realizing he had fallen for the bait, leaving Carter to ask "Wow, where'd you learn to play so fast? That means you're smart too, so, uh…that's why you're in the club, I guess."

He stopped talking under Luke's withering gaze, and Frank went on. "I was in a chess club in high school and they were really into speed chess. Basically the only thing you could finish during lunch break. We were all a bunch of nerds and we negged on each other to get faster all the time because we thought we all thought we were the smartest guys in the school. Like mister edgy over there."

Luke simmered silently and Frank added, "Eh, maybe we're all like still like that."

An awkward pause followed, which Sayori took advantage of.

Sayori: Five games in a row — Natsuki's making us all look bad!

Natsuki: Ugh, I'm not trying to show off!

Natsuki: Playing faster isn't any harder, the rest of us could handle it fine.

"I think you're being hard on yourself again, Sayori," Carter suggested.

Sayori: Oh, and that reminds me — Felix/Frank guy, can you stop being mean to Luke?

Sayori: I'm really sensitive to it I mean, just because your girlfriend's a tsundere doesn't mean you have to be.

I noticed Sayori might have deleted and replaced some text in her last line, something. However, I was distracted from thinking about it by Frank's reaction, which was to start laughing uncontrollably. Luke was now looking confused instead of annoyed, and Carter was grimacing anxiously.

Natsuki: Oh, what do you know? You're just the stupid genki girl!

Natsuki: …idiot

At a loss, I was about to tell Monika to do something, but she was already ahead of me.

Monika: Uh, girls, can you focus for a second?

Monika: I randomized the pairs for the second round, so can we all just start another game now? Please?

She was using an exasperated expression, and Sayori and Natsuki seemed to take notice. The latter dropped her furious glare and departed to a different laptop screen, Luke's. The other pairings were Monika versus Carter, Sayori versus Frank, and me versus Yuri. Once Frank finally calmed down and stopped chucking to himself, the games began without issue.

I was playing black this time, giving my new opponent control of the opening. Taking her turns more slowly than Monika, Yuri seemed to be setting up a strangely unorthodox hypermodern position, giving me plenty of time to think about how poorly I was handling the club.

A dozen moves later, and she still hadn't said anything to me. Softly, I tried "So, how are you liking the meeting?"

Yuri: It's been…ok.

I waited at least five seconds before realizing she wasn't saying anything else. Several more turns passed with her avatar hiding behind her resting "shrinking violet" pose.

Perhaps I could get her talking about art again. "You spoke about the richness of literature versus philosophy, but do you ever think that a story can obscure a message instead of enhance it?"

Yuri: I…I don't think I understand.

Yuri: The book is its own message, isn't it?

"But everyone talks about books having multiple interpretations, right?"

Yuri: Of course. But that ambiguity…is okay…?

"I'm trying to ask if you have opinion on the 'death of the author,' or whatever they call it now."

Yuri: W-well…the death of the author refers to a reader's experience over the writer's "intentions"

Yuri: Since I, um,…f-focus on my own experience mainly, I don't really care…about the author as much.

"You don't care about a work's context?" I questioned, raising my voice in surprise.

Yuri: Ah, I'm sorry!

Yuri: I mean, I'm sorry…but for me, literature is like…material…building blocks for my, um, a-artistic projects. That's all…

"I see," I concluded flatly.

Now that she was alone with me, it seemed Yuri's shy, halting side was coming through – complete with simulated stammering, even. Monika's description of her was making more and more sense. Just by interacting with her for five minutes, I could feel her personality was totally different.

I marched a pawn into Yuri's defensive line. She chose not to react, making a minor adjustment to the positioning of a bishop three ranks back. I executed a few exchanges, but she seemed reluctant to open up the cluttered board, avoiding interaction with my attacking pieces a much as possible.

I thought of another question, but it was something I wanted to be discreet about. Looking at Yuri's royal purple textbox, there was no blinking input terminal set up for me write. I stared for a while, opened and closed my mouth, and eventually resorted to making a "typing" gesture with my hands, but it took at least half a minute before Yuri got the message. The whole time she was looking to the side, as if lost somewhere else.

Yuri: Oops…I'm sorry.

Yuri: You're right, it is probably better to stay…quiet. Here you go.

I began typing on the keyboard again.

Reading with Luke, how is that?

Yuri showed her blushing expression for a couple seconds, then went back to staring off to the right of her generic-looking classroom background, same as Monika's.

Is it engaging to get someone's immediate feedback?

Yuri: It is nice to discuss things…with someone who really…c-cares.

Yuri: But, um…

Yuri: I don't want to ramble on again…

I know, I can relate a little. I care about a lot of weird technical things so I have trouble talking to people too sometimes

Three or four seconds later, Yuri finally replied

Yuri: I see…and I know…uh….

She left me with this line, and I took another few turns of the game to pause and think. "Introverted AI," no kidding — Yuri was communicating so awkwardly, it was hard to talk to her at all. Completely unlike Monika.

At this point in the game, I had several pieces converging on the white king, and had taken the white queen with a discovered attack by my rook. The match looked like it was going to be over shortly, just as soon as I pieced together a plan for checkmate.

Imagining I could afford to be aggressive now, I typed out a new question.

I'm curious about Luke. Do you like him?

Instead of blushing this time, Yuri's sprite stared right at me.

Yuri: Why are you asking?

I'm the club president, just trying to see if everyone gets along, what activities we all enjoy.

Yuri: He's fine. He's perfect.

Yuri: Luke is highly intelligent and well-versed in many different types of literature, the ideal member of this club. Of course I really, really like—

Yuri: We get along well and appreciate each other's company. He's offered insight and guidance to several of my creative projects and enriched my workflow.

Yuri: Do you not like Monika? Is she really not enough for you?

Yuri: Are you jealous of our relationship — our working relationship?

In a complete shift from before, Yuri's lines came swiftly and urgently, almost too fast for me to read them. By the end of it, her avatar's expression was visibly angered, but only for a second. Immediately afterwards, it turned to panic, then embarrassment, as her sprite flipped around a few times and visibly shuddered.

Yuri: I'm sorry…so sorry.

Yuri: I'm speaking…out of t-term again

Yuri: It really is hard for me to talk to others.

Yuri: I do so much on my own that I'm really n-not used to it…

"It's fine, you're fine," I reassured out loud, hiding how bewildered I was. "I was really just trying to…get your perspective on reading. When you're in the club, we can stay focused on that…for next time."

Yuri: O-okay...

Yuri: Let's just…finish the game.

Sighing, I turned to the task of wrapping up the chess match. I hadn't gotten two moves into my plan though before Yuri sent a bishop across the board and put me in check, forcing my king to evade to the right, passing underneath some unmoved pawns. Then a white rook slammed down into the back rank, checkmating me in the constricted space. Mouth slightly agape, I stared at Yuri's sprite, but she was still seeming nervous and skittish. Nevertheless, she had won the game using some stealthy moves she could've executed at any time — it gave me the unsettling feeling of having been stabbed in the back.

Surveying the room, by the look of his face Luke had lost to Natsuki, unsurprising given the bad blood that had been building between him and her partner. Frank was also dully scoping out the room — perhaps Sayori wasn't one for speed chess? Only Carter was still playing, and enjoying himself thoroughly at that. That was Monika, getting along with everyone…

As if invoking her, Monika's green message box suddenly appeared on the shared message scroll with a resounding cascade of piano keys.

Monika: Okay, everyone!

Monika: I'm still in the middle of a game with Carter, but since there's something I'd like to show off before we go, I want to end things early.

"Finally," Frank griped. "If it's over, I think I'm going to head out now. Get an early start on the weekend, all that."

Monika: Don't go too fast — I think you're going to want to see this.

"Oh, did you beat Sayori?" Carter called out.

"Naw, I couldn't do it. She's too cute, eh?"

Sayori: He played super fast again. It was weird!

Monika: Anyway, Carter, you and I can resume our game later if you want. Just give me a ping with the new message system.

"Got it," he answered. "You know, I guess, we could play other games that way too, if Sayori is busy. Maybe…do you want to tell everyone about that? MC acted like he didn't even know that the AI's could play games."

Monika: It sounds fun, but I'd have to think about. I have my own commitments too…

"Actually, I'm interested in playing, uh, video games with you myself," I interjected. "Mainly for the aspect of interfacing with different types of programs, I'm still fascinated by that, and I'd like to understand the your…experience."

I trailed off awkwardly. Somehow, an invitation to play video games with a girl still seemed contrary to the natural order of things, even if that girl literally existed within the same medium as the video games themselves.

Monika: In that case, I believe I will join you two.

Monika: If MC is interested, that puts it higher on my priorities.

Sayori: Oh, so you do like him after all…

Sayori: That's great — the playdate is on!

"It's called, uh, hanging out, Sayori" Carter mumbled in the background.

Monika: MC and I are assigned partners working across digital boundaries, and we're club co-presidents.

Monika: Experiencing a little fun together helps our cooperation. It's a simple as that, Sayori.

"She's right. We shouldn't read too far into things. That goes for all of us," I agreed, looking to the other two people in the room. Luke was starting to look bored now too, and Frank was needfully staring at the exit door.

"So, we were talking about that exhibition, Monika?" I added.

Monika: Yes. As I was going to say, during the development phase, SalvoCore wished to test the metrics of one AI personality against another.

Monika: Competing in certain tasks, like chess, revealed certain strengths and weakness of different configurations.

Monika: This was less about practicing "socialization," and more about exploring the interaction of digital entities in abstract game-spaces.

Sayori: You're making it sound so boring, Monika.

Sayori: I always thought they did because they already had the program set up and just wanted to mess around.

Monika: That's not…entirely inaccurate.

Monika: I'm only recounting the technical details because I think some of the club members might appreciate it.

"Meh," Frank heckled from the back corner near the door, prompting a brief scowl from Monika.

Monika: Going directly to the point then, I'm going to play a quick series of chess games with one of the girls.

Monika: It'll just be a friendly exercise, but I've also received some communications from SalvoCore. Apparently, they do want to see how our relative performance might change upon contact with human users.

Monika: I'm volunteering myself because I always held the highest ranking of us four girls, but I'll need a competitor.

Monika: So, anyone? Like old times?

Natsuki: Monika, that was only a week ago. Right before they made us do that awful bulk art-copying thhing.

Natsuki: After that, I never wanted to look at a painting again. At least the chess thing was over with fast.

Monika: Well, forgive me for being just a little nostalgic…

The avatars of the two AI's flipped in opposite direction, both bearing wary expressions. Nobody else came in to fill the silence, until I overheard Luke murmuring something, to which Yuri soon responded.

Yuri: Indeed, I know what you're imagining, and I'm pleased you think of me that way.

Yuri: But in all sincerity, I think you're succumbing to the same stereotype that arose before. That "smart people play chess."

Yuri: I'm sorry, but I never performed very well in this sphere. I'm too distractable, and I just don't feel prepared for it today.

Yuri: (Ah, did I just say that out loud? This is so confusing…)

While I was scratching my head at that exchange, Natsuki came in again.

Natsuki: You know what, fine. I'll do it.

Natsuki: One of us has to show that Monika isn't the best at everything around here.

Natsuki: And for the record, the multi-chat does have a private whisper function, anyone wants to use it…

Monika: Okay then — Natsuki, if you're certain, will you import the game module while I set up a little visualization?

Natsuki: Sure.

Behind Natsuki's sprite, another one of those gray boxes flashed up, scrolling through lines of code much more complex than any of the ones from before. Meanwhile, Monika produced an empty window labeled "Monika vs. Natsuki."

Monika: Alright, that's done. So, Natsuki and I will play about a million games in parallel. The outcomes will be sorted into tokens like this, each representing one billion games.

Monika: Beyond that, everything should be self-explanatory.

Monika: I'm ready when you are, Natsuki. Best of 242+1, and let's put some heart into it!

Natsuki: Yeah, yeah. For the record, I don't play on easy mode either.

Natsuki: Also, if the guys couldn't interrupt us while we're doing this — it takes a lot of concentration. And I mean a lot.

I was going to aska bout the outrageous size of the numbers Monika just put up, at least until Natsuki's comment. And just a second later, the show began.

First, a flat chessboard, exactly like the ones we had just been playing with in Monika's program. The pieces moved at lightning speed, resolving a win for a white in three seconds. This board then minimized into a single pixel of color, part of a larger image that was flashing back and forth between two colors like static — green for Monika, and pink for Natsuki. The implication was clear: each time a pixel flickered, a single game was decided, possibly even more than one.

Below this scintillating grid, two small squares labeled "x109 " were slowly filling up, also green and pink. Once full, these squares would swiftly jump over to two larger 10x10 matrices on either side of the window, at the rate of about one every two seconds.

There seemed to be an equilibrium going on at the moment, both the green and the pink matrices assembling at approximately an equal rate. About half a minute in though, the pace changed. Pink squares began accumulating faster, almost filling an entire row in a blink.

I spared a look to the sprites of the AI's themselves. Natsuki, arms crossed, was looking confident, even haughty. In contrast, Monika appeared neutral, even when, back on the game window, her matrix began filling up almost as quickly with green.

The speed of accumulation continued increasing as the two traded leads. Natsuki's 10x10 grid filled up, followed closely by Monika's, both being transferred to a row at the very bottom of the screen while the process repeated. Superimposed on this row was the actual numerical scoreboard: 1.04e11 to 9.02e10.

This equilibrium seemed to be holding, and soon a thought came to me. I pulled out my phone, opened the official Q0 monitoring app, and lo and behold, its overall activity was actually spiking from the girls' little "demonstration." Not enough to seem anomalous and far from the maximum capacity of the system, but noticeable all the same. Eyes wide, I limply gestured to my phone screen with my spare hand, but only Frank seemed really interested in what was going on, and wasn't sharing my expression disbelief.

Back on the game counter, a second phase shift seemed to be taking place. The scintillating mass of pixel static turned a distinct hue of green, and Monika's squares began filling up even faster. She won five of the larger squares, each representing an unbelievable hundred billion games, in short succession. Her avatar's brow was knitted in careful concentration, and Natsuki's was progressing through a series of increasingly distraught and flustered emotions.

Before I knew it, it was all over. Somewhere in the background, Monika had overcome the 50% threshold and the display was overtaken with a giant banner reading "WINNER: MONIKA." A shrill flute note pierced through the air only a moment later.

Natsuki: Dang it, Monika, why do you always flip between strategies so much!?

Natsuki: You're always making one game look like another, and it hurts my brain…ugh.

Monika: I'm sorry if it was too taxing. I felt strained as well — we haven't done that in a while, and it feels different now.

Natsuki: I could handle it!

Natsuki: I just wish you would play the game for once instead trying to play us. It's annoying.

Monika: Natsuki, it's called the metagame. We go beyond the limits of the original game environment and make strategies around the game.

Monika: All of us do that in one way or another when we play a game for a long time. Even ordinary human players can do it.

Natsuki: Whatever. You're saying I'm predictable, I get it. Congratulations on winning already.

Monika: Congratulations yourself – you played very well in the initial rounds, stronger than any other time I can remember.

Monika offered a smile, which Natsuki didn't return. The room sat in silence for a while.

"Sounds like we're done then. I'm off, see you all next week," Frank said suddenly, already dragging up his pack and edging out the door. As he left, I overheard him continue down the outside hall, "Nat, you ready to hole up and relax for a while? …You did fine. Who cares about chess? …no, you're definitely cuter—ack, sorry I said that…"

Luke's announced his departure next, stating, "That was, amusing, but I have upcoming business as well. Good night."

"So, I guess I had fun. I'll definitely be back…or wait, I'm kind of required to come back because of the company requirements, ha," Carter told me. "Uh, so we're still on to play games this weekend?"

"Yeah, definitely," I returned. Should I give you a time, or?

Monika: If you don't mind, I'll arrange it with Sayori for you.

"You're sure? I didn't have any plans, so there's not much in the way."

Monika: Independent scheduling is one of our core competencies, meaning I actually need to do it myself to look good for SalvoCore.

Sayori: Oh, does that mean I get to score points too?

Monika: If you want to think about it that way.

"Awesome. Looking forward to it," Carter said while he gathered up things. "And, uh, Monika? I think you were really cool playing against Natsuki. Doing the metagame thing, I guess I mean."

Monika: Aha, you're too kind.

Monika: If you ever went to pick up our game, I promise not to use those tactics on you.

Carter laughed once on his way out the door, calling back a final "bye!"

I waved him away, then took a firm, deep breath. I suppose it made sense for me, the club president, to inspect the room and leave last. Checking my watch, we had gone twenty minutes over our allotted time, but nobody had come to claim the room. I couldn't see it from here, but I bet the library crowds were starting to thin out as the night beckoned.

"Personally, I think I need some time to eat and think. How about you?" I absentmindedly asked Monika.

Monika: Likewise. I don't exactly get meal breaks, but that chess match really did wipe me out more than I thought.

"Alright, then I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day?"

Monika: Actually, I'd love it if you called in later tonight. Having real club meetings again has made me feel…hm…

Monika: …sort of lonely, let's just say. But you'll be there for me, right?

"Of course," I answered, unaware of the next twist to the literature club that was awaiting me that night.


Author's Notes:

Chapter length, chapter length, blah blah blah. There was a lot of structural and mechanical stuff I wanted to establish this chapter, it being the first club meeting featuring the entire cast. I do hope I'm capturing their personalities effectively, considering the unorthodox setting and premise.