Love and Litterature

ACT 3: WEDNESDAY

You don't even bother looking at the clock today, you already know what day it is, and you don't bother hoping Monika is gone either, you can hear the TV on already. You walk downstairs, and Monika waves, wearing some casual clothes with an apron that reads kiss the chef, but you don't really want to.

You instantly go to the literature club door, and stare out the window into the endless starry sky, still trying to form a plan in your mind.

You just need to delete Monika, how hard can that really be?

The issue you ran into was you don't know HOW to delete Monika. You couldn't just... tinker with things you can't even see and toggle her code off, but the dreams you'd been having might be the key.

Monika sneaks up behind you, and puts her hands on your shoulders, startling you. She laughs, and pulls up a chair beside you.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?"

"I guess." you reply, watching the swirling emptiness outside.

Monika sighs, and supports her chin on her fingers again, a gesture you've gotten used to as she stares outside with you.

"Something is on your mind." Monika states suddenly.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"I don't understand why you so dearly want to see your 'friends' again." Monika says with a hiss, turning to you. "You have it MADE now, someone that cares about you and can get you whatever you want, and yet you aren't satisfied."

"What are you talking about?" you respond, trying to remain calm.

"Oh, you know damn well what I'm talking about." she hisses back, glaring at you.

"You want to get rid of me for good, I know what you've been looking at, that poster wasn't a coincidence."

"A-are you sure?" you say, feeling nervous.

"What kind of fool do you take me for?"

You shrug, and go back to staring out the window.

"Whatever, there's nothing you can do anyways, no matter what you think."

Monika's sudden mood swing startled you. She'd been so calm and tolerative for the past 2 days, but she was right, you were sure there was nothing you could do at all.

You don't have much to say now, so you decide to let Monika ramble if she needs to.

"Just... Please listen to me, I've done so much to make this place a reality, and without me, there's a good chance you'd forget everything, and return to the reality you've known not knowing who you are or why you're there."

You turn to Monika, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"It's for your own good if you stay here."

You stand, about to leave the room when you notice the closet that you and Natsuki read in. you approach it, and reach for the handle, opening the door slowly.

The closet's floor breaks off halfway through, and it's completely empty, with wind whipping through it. You hesitantly peek over the edge, and down into the abyss below you, with no sign of a bottom. Whatever you say in the window on the first day was clearly a lie, there IS no outside to speak of, other than an endless pit.

Suddenly, a plan comes to your mind. You know Monika is certainly smarter than you, but you don't think she's stronger, so throwing her to her doom is certainly a way to get out of here, but even this plan has flaws. What if she is stronger than you, or learns about it beforehand and removes the closet? What if she takes you with her to the void, or you succeed but forget everything?

But the motivation to see your friends, as cliche as it is (cliche enough to make you cringe), is all you need, even if you do fail, Sayori will still know who you are, you could start anew, forgetting everything about this nightmare.

Monika quietly opens the closet door, and clears her throat gently.

"Get back inside, it's not safe out here. One wrong step and you'll go tumbling down into nothingness."

There has to be an easier way to get out of here. Her poems make you think that there's more that you can't see, almost like this reality isn't even... well, real. You can't just grab Monika's file, and shove it in the recycling bin, and call it a day, you don't even know where you are.

"Are you even listening to me? Get inside, before you fall."

You turn back, and enter the safety of the clubroom once more, trying to piece anything together, hardly paying attention to Monika as she blathers on about how this is all you need now.

You look up at the stars outside, trying to recognize any constellations, but you can't, it's all so alien to you.

"HEY! PAY ATTENTION!"

Monika snaps her fingers under your nose, getting your attention,

"Wha-, sorry, I was just... looking into your eyes." you lie through your teeth, but Monika eats it all up, and you realize her single weakness: her pride.

"O-oh! Well then..." Monika says, her cheeks going pink in embarrassment.

To keep the facade up, you keep looking into her eyes... her beautiful emerald eyes, glittering in the starlight, drawing you in...

You shake your head, and turn back to the closet door, making sure it's closed.

And then, as you remember the void outside, you get an idea: use her pride, and finish her off for good.

You go back to your home now having a plan, and sit on the couch, your hand reaches into your pocket, falling on a half melted bar of chocolate out of it. You look down at it, figure what the hell, it can't be that bad, and you take a bite.

You run through the details in your head, thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong, but you have a feeling that Monika's hubris will be her downfall. All you need to do now, is find out how to make Monika take the bait, but that won't be difficult with how infatuated she is with you.

You decide to sleep on it, but before you can lie down, Monika opens the front door, and sits down on the couch, looking over at you.

"You seem tired, have you been getting enough sleep?"

"I could use a little more." you admit.

You lean on Monika's shoulder, and close your eyes, running the plan down in your mind.

The final step: send Monika into the void.