As we neared the bottom, Yuri jumped down from the ladder and she quickly run to aid Natsuki. I could feel my heart pound faster as I heard Yuri scream in fear. What kind of things lie within the confines of my basement to make her scream like that? A scream so loud and bloodcurdling, it made my hair stand on end. My grip on the ladder began to falter as my palms became sweatier. I quickly hurried downwards, the sound of Natsuki and Yuri screaming and shouting became clearer. But as I neared the bottom, I heard another sound that surprised me. I could vividly hear the sound of Sayori mischievously giggling and flailing something around. This is bad.
The moment I reached the bottom, I dashed towards them. My eyes were blinded by the surprisingly bright room before me. It was a stark contrast to the dark and damp ladder that lead here. The room is around 30x30x30 meters on all sides, forming a near perfect cube. The entire chamber is made out of dark granite and polished marble. The ceiling is packed with multiple colored lights that mimicked the natural color spectrum as much as possible. There are also multiple air vents around the huge room, continually circulating fresh air in this enclosed space. And the shelves! They're huuuuge! They are filled to the brim with mountains upon mountains of books. Though I could see that there are other items on the shelves like Artoria's Excalibur, the Infinity Gauntlet, Mjolnir and a few other neat knickknacks. But... What grabbed my attention is Natsuki and Yuri cowering in fear of... Sayori?
" Muahahahaha!!! Behold! My weapon!" She pulled out a huge, pink dildo. The one from the game Saint's Row. She playfully swung it around near Natsuki's face.
" WHAT THE FUCK?! GET THAT AWAY FROM MEEEE~ AHHHH!" Natsuki screamed out in disgust before ducking quickly, avoiding the playful swing Sayori threw at her.
" Sayori! Please stop swinging that profane- Kyaaaahh!!!" Yuri let out a shriek as Sayori pointed the weapon at her face.
" Kukuku... This is a weapon, to surpass-"
" Sayori! Put that down!" I shouted sternly at her, like a parent scolding their child.
" Y-Yoku?! Wait! I can-"
" NOW! YURI!" Natsuki jumped up and restrained her while Yuri immediately grabbed the large sex toy and threw it away.
I walked up to the three and gave Sayori a soft slap on the wrist. She laughed it off and looked at me with an expression of enjoyment. Her sky blue eyes glimmer with joy at the sight of me, but she immediately frowned and winced at the bandages that covered most of my face.
" Y-Yoku! H-Hello! Uhh... What are you doing here?" Sayori tried to shift the focus away from her.
" No, no, no, no... The question is, why the hell are you swinging that thing around?!" I asked sternly, looking at her coldly with my right eye.
" Well... You see, uhh... We woke up here after Maido knocked us out and... well, I got bored-"
" Wait, Maido knocked you out?!" I cut Sayori off and looked at her with a concerned expression.
" Damn right! You know how fucking scary that is?! She kicked down the door to my room with a sack over her shoulder! She was standing there all menacingly and intimidating that I passed out due to the fright." Natsuki said in an irritated tone, shivering as she remembered the scene.
" Well, I can't have you panicking and running around while I searched the place." A stern, female voice said from behind one of the massive shelves.
" Welcome home, Yoku. Would you like some tea?" Maido appeared, walking onto our view, wheeling a tray with a tea set on it and strange apparatuses.
" My apologies, Natsuki, Sayori. I needed you to stay calm while I tried to find something. Besides, you're gonna need your wits with you after this revelation." Maido said with a smile on her face as she poured some tea into a cup.
" Maido, what's happening here? And where were you?!" I asked her. She looked around the room and sighed.
" I've been trying to find a special device. A device that would enable us to talk to... Akami-sama." Maido said, handing Yuri and I, a cup of fragrant, Oolong tea.
" Hmm? Couldn't you have just reached out to him with a cellphone?" Yuri asked inquisitively before sipping on the tea.
" No. But before I explain any further, Yoku... Try calling out to him." Maido said to me. I nodded and took a deep breath before shouting Akami-sama's name. We waited for a while, usually he would've responded by now through some sign but... nothing happened.
" It is as I feared. Now, Yoku, try remembering memories about Monika. Try to remember what you did during the festival." Maido said while she poured out tea for Sayori.
" Well, that's easy! Monika and I... Wait... huh?!" I paused for a moment. I can't believe it, I was shocked and horrified at the same time. No matter how hard I tried to remember...
I can't remember anything.
" Maido... I... I only remember what she looked like... Other than that... Nothing.," I knelt to the floor in utter shock. Natsuki rushed over to my side and placed a hand over my shoulder.
" Yoku... WHAT KIND OF BOYFRIEND FORGETS ABOUT HIS GIRLFRIEND?!" Natsuki shook me violently, her eyes filled with frustration.
" Look! I don't know about this girl, but she seems like a really important person to you! So-" Natsuki was interrupted by Maido's giggling.
" Ahaha... Do not fret, Natsuki. It is not his fault for forgetting about his most precious memories with her. In fact, you should be amazed he still remembers her. Even I don't remember her face, just the fact that there was another member to the club." Maido said to Natsuki while she took out the apparatuses.
" And... I believe, no... I know that Akami-sama can fix this mess." Maido said before taking out two beakers and mixing their contents together.
" Woah! Look! They're glowing!" Sayori pointed out at the two liquids. Maido poured the fluid into a tall machine. The top of the machine extended outwards, forming four beams that ended with large and metallic balls that protruded at the sides.
" What is that?" Yuri examined the contraption curiously.
" This... is a perpetual motion engine. It works by using the momentum of this large weights while they spin. It may sound simple, but it is not. They rely on this formula to work." Maido pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and laid it beside her. It only has three lines of Math, but there are countless symbols that I cannot comprehend written everywhere.
" But... Isn't that impossible?! You can neither create nor destroy energy, so how are you doing this?!" I asked in amazement as I watched the contraption whirr it's four beams around its central beam.
" Ahaha, you are wrong! This machine does not create energy! It harvests it. This liquid is a special one, impossible to recreate in this time period. You see, this liquid is made up of unstable particles, brimming with kinetic energy. This engine uses those particles and simultaneously heat and cool them to create energy." Maido explained while she hooked up some wires to the engine.
" This engine could power the entire world infinitely. Although, I doubt you'd be unable to contain the damage once this machine breaks down. You'd be facing an explosion as powerful as the Big Bang if you're not careful." Maido connected a device with a weird orb floating inside of it to the wires.
" Wah?! Why is such a thing hidden below Yoku's house?! Shouldn't we share it with the world?!" Sayori exclaimed before folding her arms.
" This technology is far too dangerous. Besides, I doubt it's creator would be fine with it." Maido said coldly.
" And what are we gonna use it for?" Natsuki asked curiously.
" We're just gonna use it to power this machine." Maido pointed to the contraption.
" What is it?" Sayori asked before leaning to get a better look.
" It's... Um... I forgot the name. Basically, it's like a spirit box." Maido said before flipping the switch on. The ball inside slowly revolved. But after a while, it accelerated quickly, spinning at a speed so fast it generated a dim glow.
" A spirit box?! Like the one they use to communicate with spirits?!" Yuri asked with an impressed tone
" Yes, but instead of switching through channels in an incredibly fast pace to create white noise, this thing would tear small holes through dimensions." Maido smiled as she connected a microphone to the machine. We all looked at each other in terror, speechless at what we just heard.
" Now, if that dimension has an incredibly powerful being, er, a god, should I say, it'd be able to reach out to us using the tear through dimensions. Ehem..." Maido cleared her throat before flipping another switch.
Suddenly, the ball inside spun even faster, emitting a bright blue glow. Then, the machine projected a rectangular screen, similar to a TV. We could only see static at first, but after Maido pressed a button on the microphone, the view changed to a bright and colorful world. It was a weird world, filled with alien terrain and large chess pieces in the distance. Then, a boy wearing a beret with a brim and yellow clover on top of it. His multi colored eyes and his red hoodie and chartreuse shirt instantly told me who he is.
" Moshi moshi, Tet here! Who are you people?" The god of the anime, No Game No Life peered into the screen.
" Sorry, wrong number." Maido bowed politely before pressing another number and changing the channel. Natsuki and I were left speechless, knowing that Disboard is a place we could go to.
" Let's see... Let's try this." Maido murmured before changing into a new channel.
This time, the place was in modern day Japan. Suddenly, a young man in his 20's wearing a scarf and. black tracksuit showed up on the screen. He smiled introduced himself.
" Thank you for calling! Delivery God Yato, at your service!" His pleasant attitude reminded me of the retail workers in department stores. But I cannot hide my surprise to see Yato from Noragami infront of me.
" Oops, sorry! Wrong number!" Maido once again bowed politely before changing channels.
The next scene is in a Japanese school. A girl wearing a yellow ribbon appeared and stared at the screen with a confused look in her face. Her brown, shoulder length hair and brown eyes confirmed it. We're looking at Haruhi Suzumiya. Maido politely nodded once more and changed the channel. She looked at us with a smile on her face.
" This... May take a while. Why don't you go look at some of the items" Maido said before switching to a channel. I could see that Maido is looking at Aqua. I could hear her utter the word 'useless' under her breath before switching channels.
DDLC: Our Reality
Sayori and I wandered through the maze of shelves and books. Natsuki and Yuri split off from us a while ago. I looked to my side to see Sayori swinging Mjolnir around like some toy. In her other hand, she carried Excalibur, its blade emitting a golden hue. While we walked, I read the fabled Necronomicon. It has human skin for a cover, and it's pages made of skin as well. This arcane knowledge is far too dangerous to be read, yet here I am reading it. I let out a sigh before putting it away and turning to Sayori.
" Hey, how the hell can you even lift that thing?!" I asked her, pointing at Thor's hammer.
" Huh? It's surprisingly light. Here, try it!" Sayori took off the strap and placed the hammer down on the floor. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and I let out a grunt as I tried to lift the thing. After a few seconds, I gave up and let go.
" Ahaha! I'm stronger than you!" Sayori huffed out her chest as she lifted up Mjolnir without effort. I scoffed at her and folded my arms.
" Well, at least I'm smarter..." I teased. Sayori pouted and pointed Mjolnir at me.
" Heh, fool! I have the power of the go- aaarghh!!!" Sayori's arm suddenly gave way and the hammer came thundering down to the floor. Its impact let off sparks of lightning and destroyed a part of the floor.
" Aww... I'm not worthy anymore..." Sayori sighed and looked at me with an embarrassed smile.
" Ehehe, seems I got too full of myself. Anyways, I found this cup that never runs ou-"
" KYAAAAAAAHHH~!!!" Sayori and I looked over our shoulders. The scream is clearly from Yuri. We immediately run towards the source of the scream. After a while we finally found them, only to be met with a surprising sight.
" What the?!" I looked at Yuri. She was wearing a really skimpy piece of armor.
The armor is basically a metal bikini. It barely covered her chest, let alone her privates. I couldn't help but stare at her breasts. By my estimates, they look like E-cups, possibly bigger. Her bare legs were enticing, you can feel their softness just by looking at them. She moved in a bashful manner, trying her best to cover herself with her hands. Her eyes looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.
" YOKU! Please! Don't look over here!" Yuri screamed out, covering her body using her arms.
" W-What happened?!" I asked her, covering my eyes as a polite gesture.
" I... Ah... I was... We were j-just walking by... when..."
" When this thing just suddenly jumps out and grabs Yuri!" Natsuki chimed, cutting Yuri off mid-sentence.
" Ugh, no! It was aiming for you! You damn- You used me to block it!!!" Yuri angrily glared at Natsuki.
" Well, at least it looks great on you." Natsuki smirked, further enraging Yuri.
" Why... You... Ahh!!!" Yuri covered her mouth, muffling her moans.
" Haaaah~! T-This thing! I-It's... Ah! It's getting tighter!" Yuri squeaked out before kneeling on all fours. She wore a pained yet pleasured expression.
" S-SOMEBODY GET THIS OFF ME!" She screamed out, clawing violently at the armor.
Then, as if on que, Maido arrived. She wore an irritated expression as she walked towards us. In her hands is a set of clothes and a small book. She gently placed the fresh change of clothes beside Yuri and opened the book. Its pages are filled with incredibly detailed logs and illustrations of different creatures. I was in awe, for before me is a book called a 'Bestiary'. It is a collection of data about various kinds of beasts and monsters. Maido found the pages about the living armor. She let out a frustrated grunt before closing the book. She raised her arm and pointed at the armor.
" Dimittas." The armor shook violently at the mention of the word. Various tentacles appeared across the armor and writhed violently. Then, the armor stopped moving before dropping to the floor.
" Tch, this organism is a troublesome one." Maido muttered while picking up the pieces of the armor.
While Maido put away the living armor atop the shelves, Yuri ran off somewhere carrying the new set of clothes given to her. Sayori curiously poked at the living armor while Natsuki admired a magical girl's staff hanging on one of the shelves.
Maido cleared her throat before facing us. Her cold expression failed to hide her excitement due to the slight smile on her face.
" Akami-sama is waiting."
DDLC: Our Reality
We rushed towards the area where we set up the device. On the projection is a familiar face. His soft smile, messy brown hair and the feeling of happiness he brought made us smile a bit. On the screen is Akami-sama, beaming brightly while waving at us cheerfully. He sat on his recliner, watching us while we formed a circle around the device. Once we settled down, Sayori and the others immediately voiced out their shock.
" W-What?! Wha— What the?! Huh?!" Sayori spewed out incoherent nonsense while pointing at Akami-sama. You could actually feel her brain melting.
" No way... I've been hanging out with a god..." Natsuki murmured out as she tried to swallow the pill that was given to her.
" Huh, so it is you..." Yuri said in a surprisingly calm and collected tone.
" Wha?! How come you're not shocked by this news?!" Sayori pressed Yuri for an answer.
" Well... I've always felt that there was something... off about him. Not just that, I've always had this feeling that we're being watched all the time." Yuri said calmly. After a moment of silence, Yuri's face turned red before she covered her chest and groins.
" Y-YOU KNOW... DON'T YOU?!" Yuri asked loudly with a tone of embarrassment.
" What? About the pen thing? Don't worry... Yoku already knew about it." At the mention of that incident, I felt my ears turn red. Yuri slowly turned her head towards me in disbelief, before burying it in her lap.
" Noooooooooo~!" Yuri shook her head in embarrassment.
" Hahahaha! Anyways, yeah! I'm a god! No need to be so shocked, Sayori." Akami-sama smiled at her.
" W-Wait... If you were a god... Couldn't you have just—"
" Changed your backstory? Sorry! My abilities are pretty limited when it comes to those things." Natsuki frowned at the god. Akami-sama pouted and sighed.
" Look, I would've changed it if I could. I felt sick knowing about what your father did to you... Really sick... But you wouldn't be 'Natsuki' if I changed your story." Akami-sama smiled sadly at her.
" I... I understand..." Natsuki said sadly.
" Now, regarding your problem. I've been trying to reach out to you, but I can't." Akami-sama looked at my direction.
" Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.
" This world was edited. It seems someone did her best to try and make it a normal world. By someone I mean—"
" Monika." I finished his sentence. I can't help but clench my fists in anger thinking about it.
" Yes. It seems she edited quite a lot. I don't know if the damage can be undone though; a few files are already corrupted; multiple logic contradictions can be detected; vast amounts of data are missing; just to name a few." Akami-sama said sadly.
" But... Why would she do this?" Sayori asked sadly.
" This..."Monika"... She seemed like a good person. I don't remember her, but if she was able to leave an impression on Yoku, she must've been an amazing person." Sayori said sweetly, clenching her chest as she did so.
" Well... Even I don't know her reasons. But let me just say, this is already way out of my control. It's amazing this universe is still alive. In her effort to make things normal and safe for Yoku, she inadvertently brought about the near destruction of this universe." Akami-sama said before munching on some chips.
" Wait, I'm the club president, right?" I turned to the girls behind me. They nodded at me with a confused look.
" Then, couldn't I just— Huh?" I tried to summon the command console, but it wouldn't appear.
" What does being the Club President relate to all this?!" Natsuki asked.
" Interesting... It seems she has nullified the powers that come with that position. Taking it with her when she deleted herself." Akami-sama muttered out, but he then let put a huge and dissapointed sigh.
" Doing things without knowing the consequences... Didn't she know that deleting the command console for the simulation is like deleting System32?!" Akami-sama shook his head in dismay.
" Hmmm... Perhaps there is a way to save this simulation." Akami-sama began typing furiously.
We sat there, admiring the god as he began to punch the numbers on the screen. Numbers far beyond our comprehension appeared on the screen, yet Akami-sama continued in crunching the numbers. He would nod and murmur from time to time. Finally, after a few minutes, he pushed away the numbers from the screen and smiled.
" Ahaha! The answer was right before my eyes the entire time!"
" What?! What is it?!" We all blurted out at the same time.
" Yoku! Maido! Tie those three up! Make sure it's really tight!" Akami-sama smiled at the three girls beside us.
" Huh?" They all looked at us with a worried expression.
" We're gonna crash the simulation!"