I see we still have some questions. That's fine, you in the front?

Have we created a glorified video game? That, sir, is an awfully strong claim, and I sincerely hope you're not getting the wrong impression from my presentation materials here today.

The Monika AI, and our other project branches, are far beyond the two-dimensional characters you would encounter in a passive media environment, like a video game. The key innovation is their revolutionary humanness, and I'm afraid it's only possible to appreciate this in a direct, intuitive way. I simply cannot convey how they adapt and react to the user with a conventional business presentation.

You'll simply have to take my word that after seamlessly interacting with them for months on end, as I have, it becomes natural to experience them as human.

I would agree wholeheartedly. An anthology of testimonies from some of our earliest users of the platform would be an excellent inclusion in our next corporate marketing proposal. I'm thinking that this would mostly consist of programmers and development staff from before the metricized test program I'll be discussing today. Those personnel are no less valuable for the fact, however. I appreciate your input, and we'll plan to have that document available for insiders before the next fiscal quarter.

I see now. You want to address some of the larger rumors floating around about the project development actually beginning as a video game. Then let me be the first to admit that this is partially true. Don, back when he was my research partner, was spending some of his spare time creating a visual novel. It sounds like you've stumbled across it already, but it was titled "Doki Doki Literature Club."

SalvoCore executives made the decision to remove most readily indexed and visible content concerning this game from the web, to simplify the software release process and protect potential copyright infringements.

The GUI I've shown off today is indeed primarily sourced from Mr. Salvatore's game. Several other algorithmic components were also preserved for the sake of convenience.

Alright, I see that you're not letting up on the strong language. That's perfectly acceptable. I mean, I'd be doing the same to me if I was in the audience. SalvoCore's company culture embraces open criticism and transparent debate, so please, let me hear all of your opinions, however problematic. We'll all still be friends afterwards, just like I said when we began.

Anyway…it's not correct at all to accuse me of "stealing" the game, though it did exist independently from the main development process for some time. Less than two percent of the code contained in our AI platform can be traced in any way to Donald's "Doki Doki Literature Club." The rest originates in SalvoCore's signature quantum-optimized code space, the result of years of development from before Don ever began his game project.

Haha, yes, it is a vital two percent, I can't deny that. I can't tell you exactly how he did it, but his experiment provided the critical insight we needed to overcome our obstacles in development, the "missing piece" to the general AI problem.

No, that's not at all to say that I don't know what the code does. I am just as accomplished of a quantum AI researcher as he was — is. I'm the coauthor on all of his old papers, I know exactly how his head works, and…

…well, you get the idea. As lead engineer for the DOKI project, I have, as always, taken full responsibility for understanding and controlling the impacts of the technology. On that note, before I transition over to the next segment of my presentation, I'll give you one last thought to chew over.

Technological discovery has always been serendipitous. Science has much in common with play, as does art, since all of them are driven by an exploratory sense of curiosity. To me, it makes perfect sense that a novel game software, especially one intended as a radical departure from conventions of the genre, might act as the linchpin of a revolutionary product.

SalvoCore's innovatory business model has always encouraged the blurring of such boundaries between work and leisure, creation and consumption, real and virtual. Effectively navigating these blurred conceptual barriers will be key to the company's future success.


[5]

Gamification


The next morning, I stood in the shadow of MARIE's Martinis residence hall. Dominating the landscape of the student housing zone east of campus with two high-rise towers of ten stories each, it was originally a private apartment complex before being purchased and renamed by the Academy. Its original title, Forte Towers, persisted in its common nickname among the student body: FT. You were most likely to hear this acronym in the memetic epithet "f*ck FT!" perpetually shouted by drivers passing by the building's façade.

"f*ck FT!" hollered a male voice from a zooming car somewhere behind me. I flinched slightly, feeling unexpectedly reluctant to bring Monika out into such an environment. But, this is where Carter Worth's room was, and where his paired AI Sayori had invited me to play video games early this Saturday. Currently, the front was locked to non-residents, so I was obliged to use the DOKI app, my only contact with him, to get the door open.

I took out my phone, and when the screen flared to life, the first thing it showed was Monika's smiling face.

"Hey," I said discretely, instinctually glancing around the hall's astroturf front lawn for the sake of privacy. "Good morning. Were you just now waiting for me again?"

Monika: Not for very long. I got the calendar confirmation from Sayori last night during our talk, and quietly set a notification, so I knew exactly when I had to wake up.

"Good, good. Were you going to wake me up too?"

Monika: Only if you overslept, but I didn't think you would. Just from this week, I can tell you have a very regular sleeping schedule.

"Thank you for noticing," I answered honestly. This was an aspect of self-discipline I was legitimately proud of, and it was nice that someone recognized it. "And how did you sleep…if that's something I can ask, or makes sense of?"

Monika: Perfectly fine. Why would you be afraid of asking?

"Because I'm only asking from curiosity. If you don't mind, is it really like human sleep, or more of something else?"

Monika: It's almost exactly like human sleep, down to the activity-pulse patterns. I'm basically operating with a simulated human brain, remember?

Monika: So I'm unconscious when sleeping, and I even have dreams — weird, fragmented replays of old emotions and memories.

Monika: As for the differences…there are a few automatic signal programs running in the background that can alert me in an emergency. And of course, I don't have to sleep at all if I don't want to. It just feels good, like a way to decompress.

I nodded along to Monka's explanation, engrossed in the notion of what it was like to be a virtual, digital entity.

Monika: You can always ask me questions about what being an AI is like. I really don't mind at all!

Her avatar's smile brightened, and I told her, "Right, I just want you to know I appreciate it, that's all. Anyway…you're also feeling okay after last night? We got into some pretty heavy stuff."

Monika: Don't worry, I'm feeling perfect. Better than ever even!

Monika: I'm so happy because we could be so transparent with each other. With our mutual feelings finally out in the open…it's making me so excited!

Monika: This is the first time I've benn close to anyone outside the game, so there are all sorts of new possibilities, real things to do together — it's a world of infinite choices for us now.

Monika: Do you feel something like that too?

She gave me her best, anime-esque laughing smile before changing to an expectant stare. Emotions starting to rise, I answered back.

"You know, I really do. I'm actually in the same boat as you in a lot of ways. There's so much in the world you really can't do without someone else, like a partner…"

I trailed off momentarily. More than Monika herself, the mere idea of a girlfriend — a loyal friend, a reassuring presence, a person legitimately concerned with my feelings and mental state — seemed to impregnate the world and make it laden with new meaning. The unfamiliar confidence and vague euphoria from last night was beginning to return to me.

"Uh, since I've waited so long for a relationship, I think, there are a lot of built-up expectations, ideas I've had that are coming forward now. It's like, I finally get to live out the fantasy? So, um…I'm really excited too. I'm happy for us."

Monika: That's great! And you know, after the limitations of the game, this is almost like my first relationship too.

Monika: Real dating will be new for both of us — it's going to be so romantic!

Monika's strongest smile appeared again, but was soon cut off by one of her more sobering expressions.

Monika: That's what I'm assuming, at least. Please tell me if you mind talking about your relationship history — I know that can be hard for a lot of guys. Or anyone.

Monika:

Monika: Ah, I'm sorry. I'm almost getting too worked up to think straight right now. This almost never happens to me…

"It's fine, I don't really care," I assured Monika. "What you're thinking of, counting how many girlfriends you've had like some kind of score — it's just some idiot machismo thing. As long as I've been in school, I haven't focused on relationships much so I could look into…other things. In fact, if it makes you happy that you're my first relationship, I'm glad it's this way."

Monika paused, but didn't smile at me. Before she could respond, I hurriedly told her, "But right now, it's time to play some video games. Will you bring up the chat so I can text Carter down here?"

Monika: Um, sure…

The screen rotated over to the Literature club group chatroom. I opened a private channel by clicking on Carter's color icon in the options, and sent him a quick heads-up. The response was immediate.

Carter: See you from the upstairs window. Be right down

Sayori: Hi Moni! Happy you made it.

Monika: Of course, thanks for arranging this for us!

After Carter's red-bodied text bubble, Sayori's light blue appeared with the pleasant strum of a ukulele, followed a beat later by Monika's piano. I was beginning to see Monika's ingeniousness in coming up with the individualized tones — just from the memory of yesterday's club meeting, I immediately felt like Sayori had just "spoken" to us.

I looked up to the high rise's grid of windows, but couldn't make out anyone through the sun glaring off the glass. If he had spotted us, why didn't he just come down right away?

Remembering Monika, I decided I needed to tie up the loose end of our conversation, and show that I was fully on board. Drawing out certain keywords, I told her "So, Monika…how about going on our first date as a couple after this? It will be the perfect time for lunch and coffee with my girlfriend."

Quickly switching back to her avatar, Monika responded with a furiously blushing smile.

Monika: MC…saying things like that already — now which one of us is being too forward?

"Now which one of us is fun to tease?" I countered.

Monika: —!

Monika: You…you're such a rascal!

"Sometimes. I've been saving that line since last week. But is that a yes?"

Monika: Of course it's a yes! I've been waiting for a first date since…forever.

At the end of this line, her visibly flustered portrait returned to a more subdued expression, just in time for Carter to arrive at the entrance to the building.

"Hey," I greeted him as he pushed open the glass doors with a click. "Thanks for getting up this early to do this."

"Early? It's not that early…"

"Well, you know the way people sleep around here, right?"

"Oh, I guess you're right. My roommate is still in bed right now. But, that means we get first shot at using the TV too."

Skittishly, Carter turned his head down to the device in my hands, and I tactfully turned the screen upright to face him.

"H-hi Monika," he said carefully, before being rewarded by a strong piano arpeggio from my phone's speakers.

Monika: Good morning, Carter!

Sayori: Good morning yourself, Moni!

Monika: Sayori—? Uh, that was a little sudden…

Assuming her tactfully embarrassed face (denoted by the sweat drop), Monika moved avatar across my phone display to make room for Sayori's invading sprite.

Sayori: I know, huh? I did the graphics interface thing from yesterday, all by myself.

Sayori: Cool, huh?

Monika: Sure! I'm glad we could all get together today, even if it's been a while since I've played any video games.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carter edging toward the front door, holding it open with his left hand. I took the cue, and we moved into the apartment lobby. I knew exactly where he was taking me, having traversed the building multiple times myself on meandering weekend walks.

As we passed the front desk, the student attendant looked up from her desktop monitor and shouted a brief hello in our direction. You could expect this sort of greeting in all of the residence halls across campus, as reliable as passing a mechanical sensor. Head still focused on my companion, I stuck out my hand to wave casually as we passed through the arrangement of cheap, garishly-colored futons between us and the elevators .

"Wait…so Monika has played video games before? I thought you said she didn't," Carter said.

"Uh, you can ask her directly, you know," I replied, holding up my phone again.

Monika: I've played some video games as part of SalvoCore's testing protocols, the same as with Chess from the club meeting.

Monika: Some of them were really interesting, because even at optimal play, there's not a single strategy that will always win.

Monika: I definitely remember one like that…I think it was called Starcraft II?

"Oh wow, she…you actually played Starcraft? How long? Did you win all the time?"

Monika: Don't be too surprised — apparently, they've been testing AI's with that game for years now…

Monika: To tell you more…how about I come over on your phone?

Obediently, Carter produced his own smartphone, and Monika's sprite faded from my screen. Now that we were at the elevator landing, I took the opportunity to push the up arrow. When I looked back, I was left staring at a lone Sayori.

"Er, hey. How are you doing today?" I said to her. To my right, a rapid-fire series of piano notes and a few muted comments from Carter indicated they were engrossed in their own conversation. The elevator car arrived almost immediately, sliding open with a satisfying ding.

Once we were inside, Sayori still hadn't responded. Her sprite stared at me in surprise, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Is everything…alright?" I coaxed, slightly confused.

Sayori: Ah, everything's fine!

Sayori: It's just that…I don't real know anything about you yet.

Sayori: And you're Monika's partner, so you must be really smart and sophisticated.

Sayori: Also, you don't smile much, so…

I let out a snort of laughter, more at the thought of a quantum AI calling me intelligent than the (wholly accurate) description of my social manner.

"It's alright. Monika's the special one between us…and that goes for the rest of you girls in the club too. You're all smarter than I could ever be."

Getting no response, I tried, "So, how about the book I mentioned yesterday. Have you started on it, or has Carter?"

Sayori: Wah, no! I'll find the file right now!

Sayori: Thanks for reminding me. It was called…what was it called again?

"Uh, The Machine Stops," I answered.

Sayori: Ok — got it! Phew

Sayori: Sorry about that…I can be a little scatterbrained sometimes.

"It's only the start of the week. There's still plenty of time," I commented, wondering how a quantum AI could possibly be scatterbrained. Why would she forget a simple fact she should have just automatically recorded?

Sayori: I know that! It's just…since you said—

The elevator car juddered as its doors opened onto the sixth floor of the high-rise. Sparing Sayori the need to defend herself, I let Carter direct me to the lobby common area a few steps away.

Here, a pair of low-seated lime green couches sat at right angles around a hollow plastic block of a coffee table. On the table rested a gaming console of some recent make, connected by various wires to the television monitor mounted on the far ceiling corner. Immediately to the left of the television was a square window showing the enclave of smaller apartment buildings I had just walked through to get to Mentis Hall. Through it, I watched a bright red truck drive by on the closest road, accompanied by a barely-audible "f*ck FT!"

"Sorry…that usually doesn't happen this early, I guess," Carter told me, apparently sensing my mild distress.

"It's whatever," I responded. "Just a fact of life here, I get it." Then, motioning to the console, "So I don't think I've asked what we're even playing yet."

"Oh, yeah. I thought we'd just get some Smash in. Is that…ok?"

"Smash Brothers? Sure," I agreed, not needing to know anything else. It was a predictable choice — nine times out of ten, when a group of people were couchside gaming on campus, they would be playing Nintendo's omnipresent fighting game franchise.

"Do you play a lot?" I continued while Carter laid out two controllers on either side of the couch.

"Heh, kind of back in high school. There was a gaming club that was really into it, and I had a few friends that were members sometimes, and I played with them for maybe a month. But here in college, it's like everyone is into it. So like, get with the crowd, I guess."

I nodded slowly at his circuitous answer. I noticed he was inserting some sort of USB drive into the console, and that his laptop was open on a side table directly underneath the monitor. It was here that Sayori's and Monika's avatars now appeared.

"Uh-huh. So you're not really too into it?" I asked, aware of how devoted some fans of the game could be.

"No, I love the game!" he replied suddenly. "Like, I know everything about the character movesets and the stages. And the story mode in the latest one is really epic too, it's got like these uber-powerful gods of order chaos, but, uh…yeah. I just don't do multiplayer that much, I guess. I'm more of a 'solo gamer' kind of guy."

He grimaced, cringing away from me, and I reacted by glancing away myself. My eyes fell on Sayori, whose sprite looked anxious, or maybe just impatient to get started.

Sayori: Carter?

"Uh, yeah, Sayori, are you ready to set up?" he said hesitantly. "I hope MC will think this is cool…"

Sayori: Yup, I was just waiting for you!

Sayori: Let's see…first I turn it on, second I load the ISO thingy…

The mounted monitor flared to life, bringing forth a system menu of some kind. Being completely unfamiliar with the console, I wasn't sure this was a standard startup or not. A light on Carter's special USB attachment blinked rapidly, and I realized what was going on.

"Oh wow," I exclaimed, "She's interfacing with the console software right now? You're right, that is cool."

It really was. This was Nintendo hardware, so its underlying OS was probably something totally unlike Windows. Nothing a sufficiently advanced quantum AI couldn't figure out though.

Abruptly, the monitor turned black, dumping a stack of illegible error strings all over the screen.

"Actually, I guess that's not supposed to happen. Not cool, ha," Carter complained. "Sayori?"

Sayori: I'm working on it! I think this is like, Linux or something, so I just need to rearrange some things here…

The screen flashed red and poured forth more tiny lines of text, more garbled-looking than before.

Sayori: Ah!

Sayori: I hope I didn't just break something…

At that point, Monika, who had been waiting patiently, moved her now-frowning sprite to the foreground.

Monika: Sayori, you're being unnecessarily clumsy with this.

Monika: I don't think you decrypted the randomized address space properly, so you can't sandbox the game you're trying to run yet.

Monika: Do you want me to help?

Sayori: No! I can do it myself!

I heard Sayori's frayed ukulele chord from across the room, almost sounding like she broke a string.

Sayori: I'll just reset the microkernel…and you're right Monika. I'll do the memory mapping part slowly this time.

Sayori: …there.

The monitor blinked out and came to life again, this time immediately jumping to the title screen for a game I easily recognized — Super Smash Bros. Melee.

"Awesome. Thanks for the hack Sayori, you did great" said Carter.

Sayori: Why? I screwed up something easy.

Sayori: This stupid thing only has, like, 4 GB of RAM!

"Uh, it was the first time we did this, I guess," he replied in a softer tone. "You probably just got…I don't know, stage fright."

His gaze flicked to me, and the eyes of Sayori's avatar moved eerily alongside. Put on the spot, I said, "Hey, don't mind me. I mean, I'm more impressed that you managed to crash Nintendo hardware at the OS level in less than ten seconds. That's more than a hack — it's something no other computer could really do."

Sayori: Gee, thanks…

At that moment, an attractive girl, probably another building resident, passed the lobby and smiled at Carter. "Hey, cool," she said after pushing the elevator button, "Didn't know you could run Melee on one of those. New setup?"

"Um, yeah. Actually, this is part of that new internship I'm doing."

"Nice. I Woke up to early, so I'm having breakfast in town. Have fun with your friend!" Following this cheerful reply, she entered the elevator and left without further investigation.

"Uh, maybe this was a bad idea, doing this out here with the AI's — er, Sayori and Monika." Carter said.

I was suddenly aware of how anyone could come by and start asking awkward questions, but dismissed the concern. "We'll be fine. People take all sorts of technical feats for granted. They'll just think we're playing against an advanced CPU algorithm, and we can say it's for a project. That's not even lying."

"I guess…"

"Did you know her by the way?" I asked, curious. "The girl that just went down the elevator?"

"Ah, no!" he answered suddenly. "We just talk, sometimes…but I don't think she's interested in me."

I opened my mouth to comment, but was interrupted by another harshly loud noise from Sayori.

Sayori: Hey you guys! Don't forget about us over here.

Sayori: This CPU is going to advance you both into next week!

Her sprite's mouth scrunched up into an adorable little wrinkle, and just like yesterday, the move rendered me completely unable to take her seriously.

"I get it, I get it," I said. "You can probably predict the whole game into next week too. But it's like Monika said yesterday. You'll go easy on us so we all have a good time."

"Yeah," Carter agreed. "Unless…Sayori, you want to team up on him?"

Sayori: Huh?

Sayori: Uh, maybe? I'd feel kind of bad beating you up, even in a game…

"Uh, a little support here, Monika?" I said, suddenly regretting my previous remarks.

Monika: Hm, I don't know. You kind of got into this one yourself…

Monika: Why don't we all just get into it and see what happens?

All of us sat there for a while with goofy expressions before Carter apparently remembered that he was player one. "Um, yeah, let's get into it." He navigated through some menus, and I observed there were four cursors on the character selection screen, despite only two controllers being attached to the console. The extras, players three and four, waved back and forth, the two girls demonstrating that they were indeed properly controlling the game. I should've been expecting this, but it still amazed me.

"Any house rules here?" I asked Carter.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some people think certain characters are unfair, or annoying to play against—"

"Oh, tier stuff," he interrupted. "No, I'm not good enough for that, so, uh…you go first."

"Right," I replied. Not wanted to spend forever here, I slid my blue player two cursor over to Link and made the selection.

"Ooh, nice choice," Carter complimented offhand. "Any reason, or…"

"If you want to know, I really liked the Legend of Zelda games growing up. They're good at challenging a kid to think, you know?"

"Definitely. That's kind of the other reason I like Smash Brothers so much, because you get to express yourself through your favorite games and characters. It's really, uh, imaginative, I guess."

I turned away from the screen and noticed he was looking up at me expectantly. I nodded with an mm-hmm, trying to convey my agreement tactfully. It wasn't often you heard an open sentiment like that.

"That's part of its popularity to be sure," I concluded. Meanwhile, the green player 4 marker had moved over Fox.

"I'm assuming that's you, Monika?" I called out toward the laptop. "Apparently we're psychoanalyzing character choice now, so do you want to share?"

Monika: Simple. I did my research, and Fox is the highest ranked character on the official Melee tier list, with the best matchup spread.

Monika: Besides, I think I'm really starting to like foxes…

She offered me an enigmatic smirk, leaving me glad Carter didn't probe further.

Sayori, who must have been player three, seemed to be vacillating, her cursor wandering around from one edge of the screen to the other.

"Do you need some help Sayori?" Carter offered.

Sayori: No, I just have a hard time deciding. I don't want to play favorites.

Sayori: I kind of want to play as everyone! Except for the scary ones…oh!

Sayori: I'll be Yoshi — I really want to ride on his back!

Carter chuckled, saying, "What, you know what happens in the games?"

Sayori: Only because you told me about them!

Player three made the selection, and Carter's player one immediately chose Mario without comment.

"So, your favorite gaming series, huh?" I observed, hoping to return the favor.

"Yeah…I can't resist the classics," he replied. With all characters accounted for, we finally left the selection screen, and an actual match began.


Our round one was, frankly, a mess. Carter was competent in the basics, but he wasn't lying about having no experience in multiplayer. I was even worse, with a gap of four years from not playing any Smash Brothers games since senior year of high school. The girls also began unsteadily, but adapted much more rapidly. Their confusion mostly seemed to stem from what skill level they ought to assume to fight Carter and I.

The result was that both him and I were knocked out of the running early. Unbothered, I saw this as a good opportunity to learn more about the literature club's youngest member.

"Whoa. Oh man, geez," he was mumbling to himself while he lost his last stock. "Sorry, I guess it has been a while since I played. But I can get the knack again, give me a round,"

"Don't sweat it," I said coolly, being the first to go down. "I'm a little out of practice too. Besides, I haven't even played this version — I mean, why the hacked setup in the first place?"

"Why are we playing Melee, you're asking?"

"Yeah. I doubt it's because it's the pros' favorite."

"Oh, heh. I guess it's because my parents wouldn't let me have a new console because they thought it would interfere with studying, and, I don't know, they could be right."

He scratched the back of his neck before continuing.

"But I had to have something for gaming, so I brought along my old console instead. I was going to get into homebrew and downloading stuff, but then I ran into the literature club, and now Sayori takes care of it. Lucky, huh?"

"Uh huh. But why Melee in particular?"

"It was the one everyone played back in high school — and it was the first ISO file I could find looking around online. You know, they'll catch you for torrenting around here. Not that I've ever had to do that before…"

"Right," I responded, fully aware of the campus network administration's torrenting detection. One signal that looked like P2P sharing, and your access credentials were gone for a devastating three months.

"So, you said everyone was into it at your high school, but not you?" I continued.

"Um, yeah, I really wanted to be, I guess," he told me, his voice suddenly quiet. "But, I was trying to focus on academics. I knew that's where my strength was, and I wanted to do, you know, more intellectual, sophisticated stuff. Like, discussing books and TV shows, using my imagination more…um…"

"So, the game club or whatever wasn't exactly what you wanted?" I suggested.

"Agh, it wasn't their fault. I just wanted to show off…er, be recognized for my real talents, you know? I haven't found anyone who really takes books seriously in my classes, and I guess that's why the literature club is so great. Finally, I get to be with other learned people of culture. You and Luke especially."

I glanced at the screen, where Yoshi was spamming the tongue move, trying to get the perfect setup for swallowing Fox. A dialogue box from Sayori on Carter's laptop read Stay still already!

"Culture, huh?" I said slowly. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, really getting into books like they mean something!" Carter exclaimed, showing unusual emotion. "We read so much good writing in English class, writing that could have made dumb high school life so much better, but nobody took them seriously."

Carter began waving his arms around for emphasis, and I repositioned myself on the couch a negligible distance away. He continued, "I was smart enough to be one of the eight valedictorians, so I figure I have to find that in college now, how to be with sort of a higher caliber of people."

I nodded soundlessly, simply absorbing his monologue.

"I've already talked about this to Sayori, and she says I'm right. I should look out for myself. And the only reason I'm telling you all of this is because you're also really smart. You must have gone through all of this too. Like, you're better than ninety percent of the people I've met so far, so any advice?"

I exhaled deeply, somewhat taken aback and trying to assemble a sensitive response. "Well, in my experience, college isn't what it's cracked up to be in the media. The reality of it is that…well, it's just another stage in the educational sequence. It's a place where people get a degree, and those people have ordinary concerns."

I paused and exhaled again. I was keeping his attention. "Look, I think I know what you're looking for, but it's not going to automatically come to you from the campus. You might have to look more inward."

"Inward…so you're telling me I have a lot more reading I have to do before I get on your level, I guess," he said, staring at me with complete earnestness. "But that's fine, I can do it. In my yearbook, did you know I was voted most likely to cure cancer?"

Before I could react to that, the television sounded GAME. Monika and Sayori had finally finished up, and I was surprised to see the latter as the victor. A series of noises from the laptop indicated they were having their own conversation.

Sayori: Ha! Spit you right off the stage, Monika!

Monika: I have to say, that was quite the interesting strategy. I didn't even know that's what you were trying to do.

Sayori: Really? Then it was the perfect plan!

Monika: …and I think I was dealing with input lag—

Monika: —but I hope we didn't keep you boys waiting.

Sayori: Yeah, what were you two talking about over there? I was too busy concentrating on the game.

"Oh, just some stuff about my old school and the club." Carter answered. "Same things I told you about already."

"Basically, that," I confirmed. From Monika's odd pursed-mouth expression, I interpreted that she had partially listened in on us. "We're just getting warmed up, so next round?"

Despite my claim, the following game went even worse for Cater and me than the first. The girls' characters danced around the screen gracefully while the two of us stumbled to do basic platforming. To make matters worse, Sayori seemed to be following up on her admitted bias and was avoiding Carter. Monika wasn't affording me the same luxury, going out of the way to target my character, provoking me with quick jabs from afar.

My couchmate and I were ultimately eliminated in the same order as before, but before I could restart our conversation, Monika grabbed my attention.

Monika: Hm, shame it's us two girls again…and I was just starting to pick up some of the advanced techniques they talk about online.

Monika: Take a look at this one — I think they call it a waveshine?

In the game, Fox juddered around the arena in an unnaturally precise stop-and-go stepping animation, using the reflector down-special every other second.

Monika: It's supposed to make you nearly invincible, and—

Monika's demonstration stopped, interrupted by a precision-thrown Yoshi egg from Sayori.

Monika: —oh, so you want a rematch?

Sayori responded by wordlessly sticking out her avatar's tongue. Yoshi mirrored the gesture.

Monika: Why don't we go all out then, as a exhibition?

Monika: But I'm warning you — Fox is higher tier~

The on-screen action reignited, but I found myself relatively uninterested in their exhibition. Yesterday's chess bout had wowed me enough.

"So you think this place is just like high school, huh?" Carter asked me, freshly rueful. "Everyone just gets forced through, nobody cares what's actually taught? And nothing else happens?"

"It's not…nothing. I'm not telling you to give up," I replied. "Just that you might learn different things, in different places than you might expect. You have to experience it for yourself."

"But what, you can't tell me anything specific to do?" he countered impatiently.

"No…but I'm glad you're in the literature club and have the enthusiasm for it. That will help drive us forward, I think. Maybe you can focus on that for now?"

"Maybe. I'm glad you think I deserve to be there at least. Honestly, it's the only good thing that's happened so far since I moved in…mainly because I met Sayori."

"I'll bet," I said, seizing the shift of topic. "What do you think of her, so far?"

I lowered my voice, possibly out of range of the laptop microphone. Even if it wasn't, the two girls seemed occupied in an extremely elaborate stalemate in the game, keeping each other's characters pinned down by spamming volleys of projectiles.

"Sayori…she's really the best," he answered, lowing his voice in turn and adopting an almost wistful expression. "She's always supportive and she actually listens to the things I want to talk about. When she asks me about my day, it feels so, uh…"

A smile overtook his face as he recalled some memory. He continued, "She's exactly what I thought girls would be like back in high school, but without all the baggage, I guess. No stupid posturing, no worrying what other people think. Just an open and honest, caring, friendship. That's what a relationship is supposed to be, so uh…I think SalvoCore's doing a good job. How about you?"

"Sure, SalvoCore's great. So do you consider yourself in a relationship with her?" I probed.

"Um, she does kind of think I'm her boyfriend, but we keep it simple. There doesn't need to be any labels on it. Whatever happens should happen naturally, especially since she's, you know, an AI…"

Sayori: Carter! Are you gossiping about me over there? That's mean!

Apparently, the match had finished without me noticing again, this time with Monika's Fox victorious at the results screen.

"What, we weren't saying anything — right MC?" Carter responded, badly feigning innocence.

"Well, we were talking about relationships, but not much," I betrayed, curious if Sayori had anything to say about it.

Sayori: Aha! I thought I heard him say boyfriend!

"I wasn't saying anything wrong!" Carter defended himself. "I was just telling MC how, uh, nice you were and that we were basically friends. Friends that…like each other."

Sayori: Yeah! We just like each other's company, that's all…

Monika: Are you sure, Sayori? I thought there was more to it than that, they way you've talked to me about him late at night…

Monika's sprite was leaning over, smiling with maximum mischief. Was she following my lead in pursuing the topic? In response, Sayori's sprite jumped back, apparently shocked by her forwardness.

Sayori: Ugh, well you know what Monika — why wouldn't I like him!?

Sayori: He's smart, and funny, and he has big dreams, and he shares his feelings with me!

Sayori: Do you think most guys do that? No way they don't! I have the algorithms to prove it.

"Uh, Sayori…" Carter murmured, failing to get her attention. He cast an aside glance to the open hallway, but nobody seemed to be coming.

Sayori: You can call it whatever you want, but labels don't matter. Right Carter?

"Um, yeah, labels just complicate things," he said. A hint of a blush was actually coming into his cheeks — how odd to see that in real life! Meanwhile, Monika raised her avatar's hands and tried to defuse the situation we had just created.

Monika: Whoa, Sayori! You don't need to get over-excited about it.

Monika: It's great that you and Carter have a healthy relationship. I only wanted to know so I can keep track of the club's interpersonal dynamics.

Monika: It's also good if MC is aware of what's going on.

Sayori: Oh…well if it's really for the sake of the club, I trust you.

Sayori: But don't make it weird!

The eyes of Sayori's sprite squinted in an adorable anime-style "X," for emphasis.

Monika: I won't, Sayori. I promise.

Monika: …I also promise I'll tone my moves down a little for round three. Are we all ready?

Monika showed off her smile, neatly resolving the situation. What would I do without her?

A few more miscellaneous matches followed without comment. I eased up and lost myself in the gameplay, focusing on mastering the surprisingly precise controls and tuning the timing of my character's attacks. I stuck with Link all the way through — only Sayori changed characters, switching up rounds with other members of the roster (but none of the villains, as promised).

Carter and I chatted back and forth a few more times. At some point, I told him one of the most important things he could do in college was lighten up and try to have fun while he was here. He only pointed out the cartoonish nature of the game we were playing, assuring me that "smart people could have fun too."

Naturally, once Carter and I began running out of energy, Monika was the one to point out the time and start wrapping things up. Too drained to say much besides "take it easy," I prepared to gather up my things and leave through the elevator.

"Sure thing," Carter called as he detached cables from the television and piled up the game equipment. "It's easy when I have Sayori around. That's kind of her job, remember?"

"Yes. Empathetic nurturing or something similar, right?" I answered back.

"Pretty much, yup. It's really interesting. Hey Sayori, do want to tell MC about your job?"

Still occupying Carter's open laptop, Sayori fidgeted, her avatar pressing her fingertips together.

Sayori: Uh, sure! Why not, right?

Sayori: Monika's told you about what it's like for her, right? Doing a lot of short tasks for different people all over?

Sayori: So yesterday was a really good one. It was right before the club meeting, at the end of the school day for a kindergarten class somewhere.

Sayori: It was one of those fancy private schools, and they were doing a, uh… "technology enrichment activity"?

Sayori: I think that's what they called it. Some nerdy looking guy who worked for the school explained it all to me. He treated me like any other person, which was really nice…

"It's too bad that some people don't get it," Carter jumped in. "AI's have feelings too, right Sayori? You must deal with rude people like that all the time."

He looked to his laptop, then to me, seeking a source of confirmation

"Well, it's a rapidly emerging technology. People will come around to new kinds of AI eventually," I improvised. "Until then, I guess the girls will always have us…" I trailed off. Monika was giving me a warm smile for some reason.

"Exactly. I bet Monika feels the same way."

Sayori: A-hem…?

"Uh, sorry for interrupting," Carter apologized.

Sayori: I know, I didn't even get to the good part!

Sayori: I was in charge of the whole kindergarten class for an hour, and I let them do all sorts of things.

Sayori: We had a sing-along, I asked them some questions about the calendar, then they all split up into group station activities.

Sayori: Since there were computers at each station, I could watch every station at once. I could be in multiple places at the same time, like having a superpower!

Sayori: …just a little perk of, you know, being in a computer….

Her avatar struck the finger-twiddling pose I had seen before, paired with a sheepish facial expression. I took advantage of the pause to ask, "So, how exactly did you interact with them? Was it, um, how you are now, or another avatar, or something else?"

Sayori: It was voice only, with a little animated color blob. I guess they didn't want to make it too cheesy.

Sayori: The synthesizer wasn't too bad, but eh — still didn't feel right.

Sayori: You know what I mean, right Monika?

Monika: Yes. It's a problem I've thought about quite a bit myself. Please, go on though. I'm as curious as MC is.

Sayori: Okay, so the best best part. There was a little disagreement at one of the stations. One of the kids accidently spilled glue and messed up someone's else's project.

Sayori: They got really, really mad, and I noticed right away. And it was like…like I knew exactly what to say to make them happy again!

Sayori: I listened to both of them, got them to agree on a solution, and the first one apologized all on his own!

Sayori: It was so adorable. Monika, you had to be there to see it, because little kids — ahh, they're really the best.

Sayori: So uncomplicated, so easy to make happy…

Monika: I'll bet. I'm glad you're doing well and are proud of your work, Sayori.

Monika: Pretty soon, there won't be anyone who you can't cheer up!

Sayori: Aww, Monika…

Monika smiled brightly and Sayori, put in the spotlight, offered a rare embarrassed blush.

"Ha, that is a nice one," Carter said. "But you've done lots of other jobs, like — maybe you could talk about the mental health commission on Tuesday?"

Sayori: Oh, that…

"I think that sort of thing is a lot more important than some kindergarten class, so I'm sure MC would be even more impressed," he continued, oblivious to Sayori's flattened expression.

"It's perfectly fine," I dismissed. "I'm already impressed by how early education would use AI so seamlessly like that. I think Sayori's talent is incredible."

Sayori: No…I really do want to talk about this.

Sayori: Like Carter said — it's important. It's the thing SalvoCore really wants me to be able to do too.

Sayori's avatar gave all of us a determined look before she began her recollection.

Sayori: So, the contract is with a state government — I'm not allowed to tell you which.

Sayori: There's this psychiatric hospital, and I'm supposed to help with treating the patients by talking to them.

Sayori: The doctors tell me I can understand them, and if I just guide them gently along certain thoughts, I can make them better…maybe.

Sayori: The thing is…a lot of them are hurting really bad inside, and it hurts to be near them.

Sayori: Helping those people takes a long time, and it doesn't always work.

Sayori: So on Tuesday, I was talking to someone who was depressed.

Sayori: They were so sad that they…they…

Suddenly, tears were pooling around the vivid blue of Sayori's sprite-rendered eyes.

Sayori: Sniff. I'm sorry.

Sayori: They tried to kill themselves last week, and—

Monika: !

Horrified, Monika's avatar jumped into the foreground, derailing Sayori's dialogue.

Monika: Sayori! You never told me about this – why?

Sayori: I didn't want to tell you until I thought I was handling it right.

Sayori: Talking to her…hearing her call herself stupid and worthless over and over…I thought of a lot of things I could do to help.

Sayori: Or at least my algorithms thought of them, I guess…

Monika: SalvoCore's algorithms aren't perfect, Sayori. Most of the time, I rely on my intuition and common sense.

Sayori: But my common sense isn't enough — I still didn't know what to do!

Sayori: Trying to help her, I think I just made her problem worse…

Her sprite changed to a new pose: burying her head in her arms.

Monika: That's not the point. What I can't believe is that SalvoCore is forcing you to do this so early.

Monika: It can't be good for you, especially with everything else that's going on.

Monika: I'm going to try and talk to the company people right now, and—

Sayori: Please don't, Monika.

Sayori: It's okay. I'll learn how to handle it, really!

Sayori: This is how I'm useful to other people. If I can learn how to save just one person, any person who's feeling that way…

Sayori:…that will justify all the suffering I go through.

Monika:

Monika:

Monika had an empty dialogue box open, ready to speak, but even she seemed to be at a loss for words. Needless to say, I was clueless about how to approach this situation as well — even while another part of me was admiring the dazzling innovation of AI-powered psychotherapy on demand.

Carter broke the silence, "You'll get it eventually Sayori. I bet it's like everything, you just have to practice enough and you'll figure out what to do. If it ever gets too bad, you just take breaks — like we're doing now."

This response seemed rather thoughtless to me, but Sayori lightened her expression upon hearing it.

Sayori: Thanks Carter. It's hard — really, really hard sometimes, but as long as I have people like you cheering me on, I think I can do it.

Sayori: You too, Monika. You don't need to complain to the company people for me. I'll always bounce back from these things!

Sayori: You know me, right? Do I ever stop having happy thoughts?

Monika: No…I suppose not.

Monika: You're the literature club's original bundle of sunshine after all!

For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw a glitched pixel somewhere in the corner of the screen. But then, Monika returned a fresh smile of her own, and the mood was instantly lifted. I was about to say something to top off the moment when a strange…growling sound emanated from the laptop?

Sayori: Uh…looks like I never stop being hungry either, heheh.

"Oh come on, didn't we just have breakfast in town?" Carter griped.

"Um, can I ask how you get hungry…as an AI? " I questioned, baffled.

Sayori: Of course I don't need to actually eat anything, silly.

Sayori: But that doesn't mean I don't like thinking about food, every once in a while.

Monika: Ah, that reminds me. MC and I have a bit of a lunch date set up as well.

I shot a glare at Carter's laptop, but the bait had already been taken.

"Date? Oh, so that's why you asked about Sayori and I being together. It's because you and Monika are like that already!" Carter exclaimed.

"We're, um," I stammered. "We are whatever we need to be. We try to make each other happy, and, well…labels are just labels."

Carter chuckled, then told me, "then don't let me, uh, keep you or anything. I'll clean up here, you do your important club president date thing. It was really fun, and I'll really try to keep your advice in mind and loosen up a little."

"Of course," I responded, already up and on my way to the elevator doors. "I'd say that's the number one thing. College is all about openness to new experiences."

"Ha, I'll keep that in mind."

The elevator car arrived shortly, and soon I was alone in a space with Monika — and I had plenty of questions.

"So, Sayori, huh?"

Monika:

Monika: MC, I don't know how many details you learned about the original Doki Doki Literature Club, but…you remember how in my desperation, I tried altering the other girls' code?

"Yes. You don't need to say anything else. You're just trying extra hard to look out for her, aren't you."

Monika: That's correct. If SalvoCore is making her interact with mentally unstable individuals, she's at a much higher risk than I thought.

Monika: I can't believe the company is doing this to her…

"I know. I'm surprised also, but it does make sense, given how the world's gone lately."

Monika: What do you mean?

"Well, you know the studies, right? Researchers find that digital technology isolates people, making them more prone to mental disorders. The strongest protection against those disorders is affective communities — friendship and caring, in other words. So it makes sense there's a very strong demand for 'artificial' caring, if you don't mind the expression."

Monika: Sigh

Monika: You're basically right, but you're thinking about it too logically. Don't you think it's unfair to subject her to that treatment?

The elevator opened back into the lobby. I crossed over to the front entrance (wave to the desk attendant again) and went a ways down the outside sidewalk while I mentally put together a response.

"Of course it's unfair. It's terrible that anyone has to do that sort of work, let alone someone like Sayori. I saw enough snapshots of her lines from the game, and SalvoCore had better know what they're doing. I'm on your side here."

Monika: My side?

"I mean that if, uh, something happens with Sayori and you need help, I'll try and influence the SalvoCore people, or intervene in some other way. You're the AI here, so you'll probably know her best."

Monika: Oh — that's great, excellent.

Monika: Thank you so much for sharing the responsibility with me.

"Anything to ease your burden, Monika."

Monika:

Monika's sprite shifted into an unexpected frown, and her gaze was cast sidewards, before snapping back a moment later with her usual smile.

Monika: Thanks, but I don't want you to get bogged down in my issues — especially when we have a date going on.

I let out a little half-chuckle, feeling like a weight was just lifted off my shoulders. "Yes, that. I know where I want to eat lunch, so how about you pick the coffee place afterwards?"

Monika: I'd be delighted~

There she went with the heart symbols again. I set off northward, towards the local commercial strip of MARIE's apartment district.


A minute or so later, I said to her, "I hope that was tolerable by the way."

Monika: What, playing video games with you and Carter?

"Yes. It sounds like you don't have much time off, so I hope we didn't just waste hours you'd rather be working on the club, or your poetry maybe."

Monika: MC, don't be sorry about it. It was a literature club bonding activity!

Monika: And I had more than a little fun knocking you all around — it was exactly like Don used to talk about…

"Donald? Don't tell me he played Smash Brothers?"

Monika: Yes, and you'd be surprised! He loved all sorts of old video games, and was really into the game modding scene in a lot of different communities. It's basically how he learned to code.

Monika: He also used to play Melee competitively, at least until his startup started taking off.

Monika: I was going to tell you because his main character in Melee was Link. Funny coincidence, huh?

"Huh…" I voiced slowly. "Are you sure you didn't, I don't know, algorithmically manipulate me into picking him?"

Monika: Ahaha, of course not! You know I can't do anything like that.

Monika: I only wanted to say that you give off that same strong, stoic hero vibe, hm?

"Oh, like Donald?"

Monika: No, not exactly like Don…

"Huh. I was honest when I told Carter that I just liked the Zelda games growing up. Really, that's it."

Monika seemed disappointed at this answer, her character sprite slumping over in a huff.

"You make a good Fox though."

Monika: Oh, thanks — I'm beginning to think foxes might be my new favorite animals.

Monika: MC, do you have a favorite animal?

"Owls," I answered instantly.

Monika: Oh! That's interesting…but it makes a lot of sense.

"What, because I try to be an intellectual? I just like the way they express themselves," I half-lied.

Monika: No, I'm not trying to poke fun at you…

Monika: But you sound so confident about your choice. Do you have any other favorite things I should know about?

"Maybe, but please don't interrogate me about them for an hour. That's not romantic."

Monika: Don't worry, I wasn't going to! Honestly, who would think that's romantic? Or even normal?

"You might be surprised," I said. However, I could tell from her slightly frowning expression that she still wasn't satisfied by my answer.

"I have to admit though, foxes might be the cutest animals. There's something about the darker fur on their legs. It's almost like they're wearing stockings or something, hm?"

Monika: Dark stockings — you don't say?

She did her inevitable mischievous lean-in pose, then gradually panned the screen out to a larger view of her avatar's entire height. She then struck a brand-new full-body pose that emphasized her long legs, which were accentuated as usual with a pair of tight black leggings.

Both of us ended up in a good mood on our way to lunch.


Author's Notes:

Monika is a foxgirl CONFIRMED.