The next day I have a few chores to take care of in the morning, but I still get back home pretty early. As I enter the room, I hear a voice from the computer:
"Darling, is it you?"
Of course, I leave their simulation running, but Monika ends up sitting there listening for my return.
"Hey, sweetie, are you feeling lonely in there?" I ask.
"Maybe..."
"Is there something you want to share?"
"Could you please come in for a while? We have something planned."
"Okay, just let me put some stuff away."
I quickly finish everything and put my VR gear on. And I find myself in Monika's kitchen.
"Are we going somewhere?" I ask, evaluating her choice of clothing.
"I've invited everybody to a picnic." She pulls a picnic basket from under the table. "Could you please join us?"
"For a bit, I guess. Are they already waiting for me?"
"Kinda." She opens the console. I barely get a glance at the list of teleportation commands – but the first command is... unpause. Of course, that's how she gets the timing!
We find ourselves under a large tree covered in pink blossoms – and the rest of the scenery around us is even more peculiar. A moment later, the others appear around us, each of the girls carrying a picnic basket.
"Welcome to the place I once made!" Monika says.
"Wow! A real sakura tree in full bloom!" Natsuki exclaims, looking up. "How beautiful!"
"I knew you'd like it," Monika replies.
Meanwhile, Yuri approaches me. "Are those... islands really floating in the air?"
"Yeah, and we are standing on one of them," I carelessly reply before realizing Yuri is getting quite nervous. "Hey, are you afraid of heights?"
"Not of heights, but..." Yuri avoids her gaze, accidentally looks at the edge, then her eyes dart back to the ground beneath her feet.
"You don't see how this is stable, do you?" I pat her on the shoulder. "I do have some suspicions to what may be holding them up. A very reliable force, I'd say."
"What is it?"
"Fixed coordinates." I wink. Yuri only shakes her head.
Meanwhile, Sayori addresses the elephant in the room (or in the meadow). "What is that?" she asks, pointing at the jumbled colors on the other side of the tree.
"Oh that." Monika sighs. "Better don't touch it, it glitched out once again. I thought I've fixed it, but it keeps overlapping."
"I think I see a house... and then a different one..." Sayori mumbles.
"Well, I kind of was considering several options – and those somehow merged together into one big glitch," Monika admits.
"Hey, that island looks funny!" Natsuki points somewhere further away. "Why is it upside down?"
"I've decided it's too good to fix," Monika replies.
"But how did it end up this way?" Natsuki asks again.
"Such things sometimes happen when you lose a minus," I try explaining. "Or forget to account for the flip side of trigonometry – which amounts to the same effect."
"Such things sometimes happen when you flip a pancake too hard and it lands across the kitchen," Natsuki retorts, chuckling and cackling.
Monika starts laughing as well – and soon enough everybody joins in, even Yuri is grinning despite still being anxious.
YOU ARE READING
Literature Club: Return to their reality
FanficPlayer ports Doki Doki Literature Club to VR simulation and tries to change the course of events. But is it really as simple as having a good talk with the supposed culprit? Or is the genie already out of the bottle? P.S. Consider it my birthday pre...
