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Chapter 7: Placebo

Ethan: "About whether copying someone, editing them and deleting their original file immediately is like a surgery or more like killing them and then cloning them...I think it's more like the former BUT you shouldn't do it… Or I will die."

I feel sick because of the lie I'm telling.

Monika: "Wh-why?"

Ethan: "Last night I had a dream about 'the gods' who put me here. Do you remember?"

Monika: "Yeah, you told me when you woke up."

Ethan: "I didn't want to burden you with that information. That's why I kept quiet until now. But you should know the truth."

She urges me to continue.

Ethan: "They told me I will die if any of the club members dies or is deleted before the festival, next Monday."

I let my revelation sink in deeper.

Monika takes my unhurt hand and strongly tightens it so as to never let me go. She locks her eyes into mine with a resentful, but more than anything, concerned, expression. Tears are beginning to appear in her eyes.

Monika: "How...why didn't you tell me!? If I had known…"

Ethan: "You would have done what? We didn't exactly have time since we woke up...We already did the best we could do, right? Sayori and Natsuki are fine and will soon come here. Yuri will come too. Nobody is going to get hurt or worse, right?"

I try to sound as confident as possible.

Monika: "Yeah...you're right. Sorry, I couldn't control myself... I'm just...so scared about losing you...I'm worried too about my friends but they're not as real and I can always restore them. But if you were to die..."

I pull my left arm out of Monika's embrace and face her. I then use my left arm to hug her as closely as possible. My right arm is hanging in the air on the side.

...

We stay in this position for some time, without any word.

I can feel Monika's heartbeat. It was fast, too fast as first but it's gently slowing down to normal level.

...

Ethan: "It has been about 20 minutes since you called Natsuki. Maybe you should call her again to see whether she managed to find Yuri."

Monika raises her head to look at me.

Monika: "Right...But I have a better idea…"

Her eyes dart the side. What is she thinking of?

Monika: "Alright. She found Yuri and convinced her to come here. They are on the way."

Ethan: "How do you know?"

Monika: "You know that I can see the files, right? It turns out there are logs detailing everything happening in the world. They're like oceans of information. If I use the right keywords, I can see everything Sayori and the others say or even think!"

Ah...so that's how she knew what happened in the original game even when she wasn't present, like when Natsuki showed a secret message to the main character...What a useful ability.

Ethan: "That's so useful!..."

And I add in a lower voice…

Ethan: "and kind of cheated…"

Ethan: "What about Sayori, can you see what she's doing currently?"

Monika: "Hold on a sec...Found it. Sayori is currently walking on the street, she is approaching some kind of store."