Doki Doki: My Life With Monika

Chapter 13: We Get A Happy Ending, And A Robot Butler

It all went down about how I figured. Craig and Sayori were both arrested, for three accounts of kidnapping, one account of fraud, and one account of assault. As they were being led away in handcuffs, Sayori turned and glared at Monika.

"She should be the one going to prison!" she growled. "She's responsible for the deaths of three people!" The officers paid her no attention as they stuffed Craig and her in the back of the squad car. Monika and I stood watching, along with Natsuki and Maverick, as they drove the duo off. I turned to another officer, who was talking to the paramedic that had bandages me up.

"They're not going to skate away without a scratch, are they?" I asked him. The officer shrugged.

"Hard to say," he informed me. "Technically, it was the robots who carried out the dirty work, and not them. Not to mention that burning Terminator thing inside the warehouse wasn't even built by them. Whoever designed that is still out there. Still, I'm sure the court will come up with a suitable disciplinary action." After all the cops had gone, Monika turned to Natsuki.

"Um, I just wanted to say thanks," she told her, sounding a little embarrassed. "Without your help, I don't think Abe and Maverick could've saved me on their own." Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Even though I was a terrible person, and killed you, and-"

"Oh, don't start it!" Natsuki huffed. "You sound like one of those soap operas you and I like to make fun of." She shrugged. "Besides, I'm willing to forgive you. That was in a game. Now I'm in the real world." She thought of something, then spoke back up. "However, if I recall correctly, in the game, I was in love with you." She pointed at me. "But I can see Monika and you are super close. So who am I supposed to start hanging out around?" Mav cleared his throat.

"Hey, I know a guy you might like!" he told her. "He's at the hospital right now, but you two would get along nicely." Natsuki looked at him.

"Is it that Nathan guy?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, but you see-" Maverick started again.

"No way!" she said. "I'm not dating somebody just because they're into me!" Maverick looked horrified.

"But, that goes against my ship list!" he stuttered. "You can't ignore the rules of shipping!"

"Can so, and I am!" Natsuki stated. I turned to Monika.

"Let's go," I whispered to her. "This could get ugly." I saw no harm in leaving the two of them, because Mav's house wasn't too far from here. So we left the two of them to argue, as we drove off in my truck.

............

Later that night, Monika and I sat on the couch. Both of us were in our pajamas, (though I was wearing a robe, because like I said, my PJs are pretty much my underwear) and were watching TV. Both of us had realized pretty quickly that we weren't going to get to sleep after tonight's events. As the title theme song for some late show played, there was suddenly a knock on the door. Monika and I looked at each other.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Monika asked. I shrugged.

"I'll go check," I stated. I opened the door ever so slightly to take a peek, and it was immediately thrown open by a robotic hand. I stepped back in shock. Standing on my front porch, heavily damaged but still very much alive, was A.B.E.! Monika looked over towards me.

"Abe, who was..." she stopped and put her hand to his mouth when she saw A.B.E. I'll admit, he was a pretty terrifying sight. Most of his synthetic skin was completely burned off, revealing his cybernetic endoskeleton underneath. The wires, which were apparently inessential for him to operate, still dangled out of his wounds. His glowing red eyes stared at me, which bugged me, since half his face was just a chrome skull. He unwillingly smiled at me as he slowly walked into the doorway. For some interesting reason, he didn't attack us. He closed the door behind him, then looked at Monika and I.

"I'm sorry." Those two words that came out of his mouth caught me off guard. Here he was, a robot programmed to attack and kill, apologizing for attacking us. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," A.B.E. continued. "Is that boy, the one I stabbed... is he okay?" I looked at him, and then I nodded. "Good."

"What are you doing here?" Monika asked. "I thought Abe-y killed you." A.B.E. cocked his head at her comment, and then sighed.

"I was forced to shut down, in order to conserve power. I came to apologize for acting out on those awful orders," he told her. "My original programming wasn't even supposed to used for killing." I looked at him.

"I thought your acronym stood for Assassinating Bionic Entity," I said. A.B.E. nodded, like he heard of that.

"That's my NEW label," he explained. "I wasn't designed for murder and espionage at first. My ORIGINAL acronym stood for Artificial Biological Entity. When you electrocuted me, you fried my new programming out of me." Monika stared at him in surprise.

"So what you're saying is, you weren't originally programmed to be a weapon?" A.B.E. shook his head.

"No. I was programmed to just talk to other people, give the population a helping hand. But nobody trusts a robot that just so happens to look like a reanimated skeleton. Society labeled me a freak, and nobody wants to be around me." I whistled.

"Wow, that's got to be very lonely," I said solemnly.

"It is." I swear there was a quiver in his robotic voice. "Can you imagine being me: a robot built for a relationship, being constantly left out, abandoned, and alone?" Monika spoke up.

"Actually I can," she said. "That was my life every day while I was trapped in that game." The robot nodded.

"I remember that," he said. "But you didn't hurt anyone in real life. I did. I'm sorry. I should probably just go." He turned to leave. I grabbed his arm.

"Hold on," I told him. "I forgive you. And I want you to stay here with us." A.B.E. stared at me.

"Two hours ago, I tried to kill you, and now you want me to stay here with you?"

"Yes," I confirmed for him. "This whole escapade has taught me something: it doesn't matter what society thinks about you. All that's really important is what the people closest to you think. And I think what you really need is a friend, buddy." I couldn't tell for sure, but I think A.B.E. smiled at that.

"I like that name. I will not be known as the Assassinating Bionic Entity anymore. From now on, call me Buddy." I guess he thought I was naming him. Monika smiled when he said that.

"Buddy is such a nice name," he complimented him. "Oh, Abe-y, it was so sweet of you to offer to let him stay with us." She looked at his mangled body, and didn't even lose her cheerful expression in the slightest. "Would you give us that honor?" A.B.E., now Buddy, looked at her. Then he nodded.

"Yes, I will," he decided. "And I promise to find a way to earn my keep." I ushered to the couch.

"Come and sit down," I told him. "I'm not going to sleep after tonight's escapade. Neither is Monika, and I'm guessing you don't need to sleep." I heard Buddy's legs make whirring noises as he moved to sit on the couch. He sat on my left, allowing Monika to continue cuddling with me on my right.

"Abe," he said to me, "Thanks."

"No problem," I assured him. It's funny how life works that way. Two hours ago, I was in a fight for my life with Buddy. Now I was comforting the fellow. To be honest, it was actually pretty easy. I had to do the same thing with Monika.