All in all, I have no idea how I'm meant to process this new position of mine.
I'm getting paid much better (and I was already getting compensated well!) but that in exchange for sitting in this weird office all day with my super creepy boss? Not sure how worth it this actually is.
Well, at least Quandary's here. She makes this whole experience a lot more bearable.
Our boss lets us chat as much as we want to so long as we get our work done, or at least I assume she does as she doesn't seem to say much about it. I think the most I've heard from her in sequence since that first day I met her is, like, ten words.
She hasn't cut herself again since that first day, and weirdly enough the wound that was very apparent the day of has faded already, leaving just the slightest impression of a scar.
As for what we've actually been doing, it's really not all that different from before: We've just been watching the footage from the simulation and looking through paperwork and filing, but this time with a different purpose: to find the so-called "imposter" that has infiltrated our systems. We've made pretty good progress on cracking that mystery, narrowing the possibilities to a few candidates.
The original "prime suspect" so to say is this girl called Serena. There's nothing particularly special about her other than that she's been hanging out with Monika more often, which is a bit suspicious since she wasn't really socializing much before then.
On that note, another person that could be the culprit is Monika herself. Her being more socially active could mean a couple of things, ranging from the person entering the sim using her body as a vessel to simply her helping them from the inside. Really not quite sure what to make of her, but I'm sure with how quickly we've been figuring things out it'll be no problem.
As for the other Literature Club members, it's really hard to discern. They all act strange, like off-color imitations of themselves. Nothing like how they act in the game. Most notably, Sayori's incredibly public attitude with her suicidality is something completely alien to how she acted in the game. Even outside of that, she's incredibly emotionally volatile, experiencing fits of extreme mania only to begin crying uncontrollably minutes later. She shows no clear intention to hide these emotions, openly making them everyone's business.
Natsuki and Yuri have notable differences to how they are in the game as well, with the former surpassing the tsundere label and instead just being a straight-up jerk at times. This evens out with her apparently excellent baking skills, which she displays to her peers by bringing a batch of muffins to school every morning in a daily ritual of what I can only hope is goodwill. As for the latter, she definitely takes the bookworm angle seriously: reading books is quite literally all she does. At the Literature Club she hardly participates in any discussions, as she's too busy finishing her fourth book of the day to notice anything around her.
Anyways, weird stuff.
Speaking of the Literature Club, they've got a special event going on today: an orientation of sorts? Weird time for it since it's towards the latter end of the school year, but a lot of people turned up. I'm sure one (or more) of them is the imposter, but it's hard to say. That Serena person is there, though, so we've been paying special attention to her.
The orientation event does make Monika a bit less likely of a suspect, since she wouldn't need to host an event like this if she were the imposter. It only draws more attention to her, which doesn't make sense to do. She most likely used the orientation to sneak the intruder into the club.
But why would they need to be a part of the Literature Club in the first place? How do they benefit from it? Unlike in the source material, nothing special ever happens in the club. Monika keeps to herself, and has no reason not to. Her motivation in the game is nonexistent here.
That all said, nothing weird's happened at all, it's quite literally just been business as usual. The most interesting part of today is learning that Serena's boyfriend's name is also Natsuki. Funny coincidence, but it also more or less deconfirms Serena being the so-called saboteur in my mind: The boyfriend would probably have to be in on it as well, and neither of them have really done anything that odd to my knowledge. That said, my boss is still suspicious of them.
It just seems like we've hit a dead end despite all we've observed. I don't know if there's something I'm missing or if I'm looking at things the wrong way but it seems like all our leads run dry as soon as we try to pursue them. It's messing with my head a bit, to be honest, that even this major event going on in the sim doesn't give us anything new.
Unless…
"Wyatt."
Jumping in my seat at the sudden auditory stimulation, I turn one hundred and eighty degrees in my swivel chair to face whoever might want my attention.
Unsurprisingly, my boss stands before me, her scar-ridden visage towering over mine in her standing position. In her left hand she cradles a bundle of messily organized files and folders, while in her right is held a coffee mug containing the darkest roast I have ever laid my eyes upon.
After a short pause to gather my attention, we make eye contact and she speaks. "Any new information on the investigation thus far?"
"Unfortunately not." Awkward by my lack of a valid response, I reach to nestle the back of my neck in my open hand. "It feels like we just don't have any concrete information, if there really is an imposter they're doing a good job at hiding it."
My boss nods. "Fair enough, thank you for your effort thus far. Continue to keep me updated if you happen to uncover any leads."
After finishing her statement, she glares down at her coffee and raises it to her mouth. As soon as the fluid touches her tongue, she doubles over, making a very apparent gagging noise. Before I can respond, Quandary gets up from her desk to tend to our employer.
"Holy shit, are you okay? What happened?"
Fluid now leaking from her mug, she slowly but surely stands back up, as if the incident never happened.
Quandary continues her worried inspection of our boss. "Here, I can clean up for you. Was it just too hot or something?"
Not even acknowledging her comment, the buzzcut-clad woman simply begins walking back to her desk awkwardly.
For a few seconds, the room is silent before Quandary once again interjects.
"Anyways, I did have one question about our investigation." This does bring out a response from our boss, who simply replies with a "Yes?"
"I managed to find this file buried in one of the cabinets. It goes over absurd amounts of information about this one certain individual in glaring detail, but some parts of it… Stuck out to me, I guess."
Our employer turns to face her and crooks up an eye. "Please continue."
Quandary quickly spreads out several sheets of paper on the table below her, in a way where I can clearly see that she wasn't exaggerating on the magnitude of information regarding this guy. One sheet stands out to me, though, as she sets it on top of the messy stack. The paper is filled with completely unintelligible splotches of ink, and what text or images are present have been distorted beyond recognition. What catches my eye most, though, is the careful writing drawn over it in a strong blue permanent marker.
EQ - FIX YOUR FUCKING PRINTER. -BZ
"So, it's on this guy called Xavier McEnroe."