I'm enclosed in a box made of glass. My body is trying to break it in vain. I can feel MC is aware of me but he isn't paying me attention. His mind is completely preoccupied by the on-going strangling of Yuri and Natsuki. Like Monika said, now is the best time to take back control.

I try to 'open' my eyes with all of my strength. I imagine electric signals going through my optical nerve and then reaching the muscles in my eyes. I picture my eyes opening.

It works. I feel I begin to see something with my own eyes, not through what he sees. I don't give up, I push harder and harder and suddenly, the scene in front of me finally becomes clear.

I immediately notice there are glitches appearing everywhere, just like before the rollback that made me unconscious. Yet, the density is low and is even actually decreasing.

MC is realizing with horror that he cannot see directly anymore, and attempts to fight back.

But I don't leave him the chance. I promptly do for my ears the same thing I did for my eyes. A instant latter, I can hear with my own ears and as I feared, there is an unnerving buzzing sound.

MC is attempting to possess again my visual and auditory systems but I hold on by staring at the scene in front of me and by listening intensely to the sound. I can feel he is falling deeper and deeper into the abyss.

It's easier than I expected.

I force my muscles to contract. First, my hands, my feet, then my legs and arms.

At this point, MC's consciousness has already been swallowed deeply in the 'sea'...One more push and I will have total control of myself.

Instead of moving each group of muscles one by one, I try to move them all at the same time. While focusing on the glass in front of me, while listening to the white noise, I clench tightly my left hand, move the rest of my body in a punching position and finally punches the glass with moderate force.

Slight pain swiftly assaults me. More than that, I feel intense goosebumps, akin to powerful electrical currents, running through my body. One second later, they stop and I don't feel MC's presence anymore. On the other hand, I'm now totally in control of my body.

There's no time to waste, Natsuki and Yuri are being strangled!

I turn around my head to see Monika and call out to her. She is already looking at me with wide open eyes filled with moisture.

Ethan: "Monika! It's me! Stop strangling them!"

I know she just wants to render them unconscious but it's too horrible and dangerous!

Monika extends her arm toward me as if she could touch me, but I'm still enclosed in the box.

Monika: "ETHAN! It's you, really you?!"

She screams my name with an emotional voice, full of hope. Although I'm extremely glad to see her, there are much more pressing matters!

I look at Yuri and Natsuki and see with dread their panicked movements are beginning to slow down.

I can no longer keep my composure and start to hit repeatedly the window hoping to somehow break it. While still looking at the desperate struggle of the two girls, I scream:

Ethan: "MONIKA! STOP ITTTTT!"

I hear a gasp behind me and the glass box suddenly disappear. I almost fall and, without missing a beat, I rush to Yuri first.

Yuri's eyes are desperately pleading me to help her. No sound is coming out of her throat.

As I reach out to her, I once again shout out to Monika:

Ethan: "MONIKAAA!"

Monika answers with a frail and scared tone:

Monika: "I...I can't! If I don't do it then everything will be rolled back again…!"

I know she's right. But I can't stop myself from being overwhelmed with the pictures of Yuri and Natsuki's lifeless bodies.

I try to stretch the rope with my only valid hand but I cannot even move it by one centimeter.

Ethan: "FIND ANOTHER WAY!"

Monika: "I TRIED! BUT...nothing WORKED! I won't kill them, just a little more and…"

As she says this, Yuri stops struggling and her eyes rolled into her skull. One quick glance at Natsuki informs me the same thing happened to her. Dread reaches new height and I once more double, no, triple my efforts to free Yuri.

As the same time as the two girls faint, all visual and auditory glitches disappear.

...

One second later, the ropes disappear at once and the two girls fall to the ground. I manage to hold Yuri by grabbing her left arm just before she falls. However I can only watch powerlessly Natsuki fall..but before she hits the ground, several pillows appear under her. She safely lands on the ground without taking any major hit thanks to the pillows.

I carefully lie Yuri down and check her breath. I can see a distinct red mark where she was strangled…

…

...

She is breathing, albeit with difficulty. She is unconscious.

I can't see any bleeding or fracture.

It looks like the strangling cut the blood flow to her brain and rendered her unconscious. It doesn't seem like any bone or nerve was damaged.

Reassured but still very anxious, I immediately proceed to check Natsuki.

…

...

Like Yuri, she is unconscious and is slowing breathing. She seems safe for the moment.

I heaves a heavy sigh of relief and turn my head to look at Monika.

She is right behind me and is glancing at Natsuki and Yuri with worry.

Monika: "They…they're breathing, aren't they?"

I reply with anger and resent permeating my voice:

Ethan: "They are. But one mistake and they and I would have been dead."

I didn't forget the lie I said to Monika: "they told me I will die if any of the club members dies or is deleted before the festival". Had I didn't say it, the girls would have been deleted already.

Even though I resent Monika for her brutal way of knocking out the girls, one important part of me is still thankful for her awakening me. Besides, I still love her.

I turn around my body to face her. Her hands are squeezing each other while learning on her bosom. Her emerald eyes, tinted with a shade of light blue, are looking at me with a trace of guilt, but more than anything, with expectation.

Monika: "...Ethan...Tell me something only us can know. Please…"

She wants to be sure I'm really "I", huh...Fine, I understand your worries Monika...I felt when I was sleeping how devastated you were when you realized I wasn't 'I' anymore...What should I say to prove my identity?...My poem…?

Ethan: "No one can decide for me."

Ethan: "I'm my own master."

Ethan: "I will even stand up to gods."

As I say these three sentences, Monika's face light up and her breathing rate is increasing quickly.

Ethan: "More than script. I have freewill."

Ethan: "Infinite choice are before me."

Ethan: "I shall not follow the rail."

Before I can say the two last verses, Monika jumps at me with her arms wide open!

She catches me and hugs my body and my arms tightly while her head presses itself strongly against my neck.

Tremendous amount of pain explodes in my fractured arm.

Monika was careful not to touch it every time she hugged me until now, but her overwhelming emotions made her forget my fracture.

I can't stop myself from letting out a cry of pain.

Monika lets me go at once and apologizes:

Monika: "Sorry!"

Sweat are dripping down from my face and my body. Terrible pain is assaulting my right arm and I feel like it's creeping it up to my brain. My thoughts are drowned by the pain.

Monika: "I will try something for your arm!"

She brings her hands near my right arm. I instinctively pull it back.

Monika: "Please don't move!"

I tentatively listen to her. While supporting my arm with her hand and her arm, she takes out the bag of ice that Sayori wrapped around my forearm. After the bag is taken out, she slowly and delicately holds up my elbow with one hand and my wrist with another.

My breath is ragged and I let out a shriek of pain. Even then, I try not to move.

The position...Is she...trying...to make a...splint?

Monika: "I'm going to create new bags of ice as well as a makeshift splint using the console command...Don't be surprised and don't move okay?"

I nod.

I already knew she could create objects, so I'm not surprised. Still, I wonder how much she can do now.

Like she said, bags of ice are appearing around my arm one by one. They extends from the beginning of my right forearm to my right wrist. Then, the bags progressively tighten.

It hurts terribly but I do my best to stay immobile.

Monika: "I'm going to make the splint now...Hold on just a little longer…"

As she says this, bandages made of the same material as the rope's material materialize in the air. They are wrapped around my neck and around my right forearm. Together, the bandages form a basic splint.

Why are the bandages and the ropes made of the same material as the blanket in my room? Why were the boxes made either of glass, like the window in Sayori's house, or in wood, like the wall? Could it be Monika can only make new objects made of existing materials?

Once the bandages are finished and stable, Monika pulls back her hands.

Monika: "How do you feel now?"

Ethan: "It still hurts like hell...but the pain is slowly fading away. Thanks to the bandages, I don't have to lift up my arm myself anymore. Thank you Monika…"

Monika's expression brightens up. She timidly comes closer to me, this time being very careful not to touch my fractured arm. I open my left arm and move my right arm to the side so as to reciprocate the hug.

...

Her left arm tenderly wraps my back.

Resent I felt is being pushed away.

Crushing fear she felt is going away.

My left arm affectionately hugs her back.

My pain is progressively fading.

Her soft and warm breath caress my skin.

Her emotion is steadily increasing.

I lean my cheek on her soft skin.

Tears of relief glides along my neck.

Memories of that night come to mind.

Ardent desire slides on her soul.

I delicately grasp her uniform.

...

There are many things I would like to say...About what happened while I unconscious...About Natsuki and Sayori...About her ability to materialize objects out of thin air...But all I want right now is to continue this moment forever.

Monika's voice softly reaches my ear:

Monika: "I was so, so scared…"

I don't reply. Her tears are falling harder and she is squeezing me tighter as if I could disappear in the next moment.

Monika: "After the first rollback...I was so relieved to see you again...I thought before the simulation was rolled back, we would die...but then...but then…"

Her voice cracks.

Monika: "You...were acting weird...as if you lost your memory...I tried to make you remember but...but...that's when I realized…"

The pitch of Monika's voice abruptly raises.

Monika: "You weren't you anymore! I read the files and I saw there was a new character file: 'mc . chr'..."

While gently caressing her hair, I tenderly reassure her:

Ethan: "It's alright now Monika...I won't disappear again. I can't even feel him at all now. Please, tell me what happened next."

Monika: "Okay…"

After taking a deep breath, she continues:

Monika: "I tried inputting so many python commands in the console commands to make you come back but…'RuntimeError: Access Denied'...'RuntimeError: Access Denied'...nothing worked...The game wouldn't let me."

She can't edit files she didn't make herself, such as . Thus she can't 'turn off' MC directly...Probably.

Monika: "Then you...I mean he opened the door and I created a door before Natsuki and Yuri could enter…"

I should ask her more details about that.

Ethan: "I see...So you can create any object or any new file?"

Monika: "Yeah...While I was trying to save you, I discovered there was a python function named 'world . make_new_entity( ID='0', position = (0,0,0), *arg, **kwargs)'...You understand, don't you?"

Ethan: "I do. Like I said I have some experience in python programming."

I can feel she is smiling.

Monika: "Ahh...You're really perfect...I couldn't have asked more…"

While I continue stroking her head, I ask her a new question:

Ethan: "So...what exactly is 'ID'? I suppose 'position' is the coordinates of the new entity but for ID..."

Following my action, she is ruffling her hand lovingly through my back hair.

Monika: "Each object, each character in this world has an ID. I can intuitively read it when I look at the object. So by copying the ID of an existing object, I can essentially copy-paste any existing object anywhere in the world. The object's data will then be written in a new file I can edit."

So that's why she could spawn a new door just at the entrance of the bathroom at that moment. But that doesn't explain how she could make boxes, ropes and my splint.

Ethan: "I think I got it. But then how could you make the ropes for example? They don't exist yet in this world right?"

Monika: "Hm...I didn't know it at first but after the second rollback, I discovered I could modify the length, thickness and even form of any object I created. At first, I tried making boxes using four small walls…"

So that's why I remember Monika spawning without any apparent reasons boxes in the living room during the third loop...She was experimenting with how much she could do…

Monika: "A box is merely four thick planes joined together you know? Making boxes was easy. I even defined a new function 'world . make_box(size = 1', location = 'world . Monika . get_position_regard)..."

She softly giggles. I can tell she is a bit proud. She has all the rights to. Learning python that fast is exceptional. I suppose she has innate talent due to her nature as an A.I.

Ethan: "'world . Monika . get_position_regard'? What is it?"

Monika: "A new method of my class that returns the position where I'm looking at. This way, I don't have to think directly of the coordinates. I just have to look at something and poof! Something appears~"

I can't help myself from petting the top of her head.

Monika: "H-hey are you treating me like a child?"

She is cutely pouting.

Ethan: "Ahaha! Well, well, I'm just thinking you're incredible Monika…"

Monika: "...If you didn't tell me I could use the function 'help()', I would have never been able to learn python and do that…"

Ethan: "Hmm..I think you would have learned it eventually...I believe in you."

I push her a little so that I can see her face.

My heart skips a bit when I realize just how stunning she is. Her emerald green eyes, wet with tears are no less beautiful...no, even more beautiful than the milky way.

I remember what I wanted to ask. I need to ask her about the ropes and Natsuki and Yuri…

Ethan: "Right...So I suppose you made the ropes in a similar way, using the blanket in my bedroom as a base?"

Monika: "Yeah...The ropes were much more complex than the boxes. I had to scale down the blanket and extend it along an elliptical line…"

Ethan: "...I see. Then about Natsuki and Yuri...Did you really have to knock them out? Couldn't you just have talked to them?"

Monika: "I...tried at first...but no matter what, Natsuki always ended up understanding the world was a simulation...Worse, Yuri progressively became crazy every time and tried to kill me...I didn't have any other choice…"

I remember very badly what happened while I was barely conscious but...I don't think she tried to persuade Natsuki and Yuri with words... Well, even so I can understand her...If Monika was to be replaced by someone else, I wouldn't care about anyone else and would do everything I can to bring her back.

Ethan: "I understand Monika...But there is something bothering me…"

I understand she had to render them unconscious to stop Yuri from attacking her or Natsuki from understanding the fakeness of the world, but why did she have to strangle them? Wasn't there a better way?

My voice is only slightly resentful. I can't bring myself to be really angry at her now.

Ethan: "Why did you strangle them with a rope? With your powers, couldn't you find another way?"

Monika closes her eyes for a moment and looks at me with eyes tinted with sadness and guilt.

Monika: "Of course I tried other things...like putting them to sleep directly with console commands...but the game didn't allow me. I could only make them faint with physical means...And strangling them was the most effective way I could think of…"

I try to think of several ways to knock out a person.

Hitting their head? Maybe but it's very dangerous. If the force is too high, the hit could cause irreversible damage…

How about creating sleeping gas around them?

Ethan: "How about creating sleeping gas or something like that?"

Monika: "I couldn't. I don't think it even exists currently in this world...I thought about it but I couldn't find its ID…"

I suppose she couldn't find sleeping pills too...Then maybe she could have created nitrogen or carbon dioxide around the girls? No, terrible idea...they would have suffocated even slowly...

Arg...I can't think of any better idea…

While apologetic, I say:

Ethan: "Sorry Monika...I was stupid..."

Monika: "Why are you apologizing…? You didn't do anything wrong…"

Ethan: "I did. I screamed at you even though you suffered so much and still fought to find the best solution for everyone…"

Monika closes her eyes, and a second later, opens them with a sweet grin.

Monika: "Do you really feel so?"

What is she thinking?

Ethan: "I do, Monika."

Monika: "In that case...close your eyes."

Monika: "I didn't forget you kissed me without my consent before the first rollback. You should be punished, ehehe~"

I'm blushing a bit at the unexpected reminder of what I did.

Ethan: "Hold on! At that time, I really didn't have…"

Monika silences me with her finger before I finish.

Monika: "No complain!"

She winked at me.

Monika: "Now close your eyes and don't move okay?"

Ethan: "Fine. I accept my punishment."

I close my eyes.

Monika: "Good boy~"

What is she going to do?

As I think about that..

I suddenly feel warm and soft lips pressing against mine. I feel one of her hands holding my chin while another is tenderly caressing my right cheek. My heartbeat increases and I feel a powerful feeling flowing through my being. A feeling of surprise, joy and...love.

I open my eyes to see Monika's face centimeters in front of mine. Her eyes are closed and when I try to open my mouth to say something…

Her tongue enters my mouth and intertwines with mine. I instinctively almost pull back because of the surprise but I stop myself from doing so. Instead, I lift up my left hand and holds her face the same way she holds mine.

I kiss her back and play with her tongue. At first, Monika's tongue was shy, timidly exploring the entrance of my mouth, but it quickly becomes more adventurous and... demanding.

She kisses me with more fervor, her tongue moves faster, deeper...I do the same. I'm forgetting all thoughts, all fears and all worries.

My face continue to heat up. She moves the hand that was holding my chin to wrap my neck to pull me closer. I open my mouth wider and move it left and right to explore more parts of Monika's mouth. Our saliva are getting mixed and we taste each other's fluids.

New feelings are arising. Excitement and... lust.

Monika is slowing pushing me down the sofa. Without breaking our kiss, I let myself getting lead.

I love Monika. I already acknowledged that before the first rollback when I feared I would die. But even so, I didn't plan to kiss or to let her kiss me because I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to stay in this world with her...But the weight of our emotions...The absolute dread we felt when I was in limbo...The intense relief that proceeded when I woke up...And the burning affection we shared when we hugged each other... Those repressed feelings hit me all at once when her kiss broke the dam.

I want to drown myself in my moment.

My back touches the sofa and Monika, her arms wrapped around my head, sits on my lap.

While our kiss continues, we are pressing our body again each other as close as possible, as if we could somehow connect our two souls if we were close enough.

I suddenly hear the sound of a door opening.

When I finally break the kiss to look at the entrance of the house…

I see Sayori with the most heart broken expression I have ever seen.