The heartwarming welcome of the Literature Club marked the beginning of the happiest days in our lives.

As Monika proposed, we went to a karaoke to celebrate the beginning of our new lives. Hearing everyone singing was wonderful. My favorite singer was obviously Monika, but Natsuki, Yuri and Sayori were surprisingly good at singing too! It wasn't that surprising considering poetry and singing are related. Yuri sang technical songs with frequent and sudden beat variations. It kind of reminded me the rapid movement of knife slashes...Yuri was the shyest at first, but once she broke out of her shell, she proved to be the best singer! As expected, Natsuki liked to sing cute songs. Her typical Tsundere reactions were adorable! Finally the recent couple, Sayori and Takeru, sang typical love songs. There was actually a competition between me and Monika, and Sayori and Takeru! Well, but I can't say we won. Monika was better than Sayori or Takeru but me, on the contrary, was the worst. Regardless of the result, we had a load of fun!

The karaoke was wonderful, but under the bright happiness, darkness was still hidden. The scars caused by Doki Doki Literature Club ran deep. The other girls couldn't forgive Monika overnight. It took several weeks, more than one month even, until they completely forgave her. Sayori, Natsuki and especially Yuri told us they had nightmares from time to time for several years. Yuri was the worst affected, because on top of being strangled and imprisoned like the others, she was driven completely mad with jealousy and paranoia. Sayori still remembered how bottomless her despair was, but at least, she had her sweetheart, Takeru, to rely on. Natsuki and Yuri had each other, but they weren't as close as lovers. Nonetheless, at the end, we, yes, including me, were happier than ever.

Our school didn't have a festival…

That didn't stop us from making one! Or rather, from making an exhibition day of the Literature Club! Like in the original game, Natsuki took care of the cupcakes while Yuri prepared the decorations. Sayori and Takeru bought and brought the materials. Some of the materials were projectors and tinsels that could be programmed. Monika prepared the pamphlets and the posters. Finally, I used my coding skills to synchronize the projector's lights, and the tinsels, with our poem recitals.

I have got to say, our performance was amazing. We even managed to recruit 3 new members!

Ah...It really was the definition of happiness. The Literature Club finally became what it meant to me.

Monika told me the day we remembered everything she would find a way to stay together forever. Well we, the Literature Club, had a secret meeting about it. Monika's plan was...let's talk about it another time.

Graduation soon approached and we had to make a hard choice. In order to execute Monika's plan, we had to become the best students in the country, graduate from the best university, and be on the front line of AI research and bio-nanotechnology. Monika was bright. She was a natural genius at everything. In my case, I was already gifted at science. Moreover, I had now my memories of when I was an university student. Thus, getting the best grades at high school, and at the beginning of university, was easy. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the other members of the Literature Club. Yuri had an talent for literature, but she wasn't as good for science. Natsuki, Sayori, Takeru were pretty good too (Takeru was the weakest by the way), but being good wasn't enough.

So, Monika and I had to decide whether to stay with the group, going to the same above-average university, or splitting from them and attending one of top universities in the world.

The choice wasn't easy, but we decided to go our separate way. The decisive reasons are the following: even if we are far away from our friends, we can still get in touch. Furthermore, as much as Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri are important to us, we will one day have our own family. Our own children. When that time comes, our own family will be more important than our dear friends. To offer the best future for us, we decided to walk on the highest path.

And we succeeded. I and my partner were still one of the best students in our university, and we eventually got a master's degree, and then a PhD, in neural network and biotechnology. The subject of our researches was the non-consciousness-disruptive conversion of neurons into digital neurons. Our researches involved the latest advancements in AI, nanotechnology and biology. At the end of our thesis, we were offered a very attractive job inside "X", the top research and development subsidiary of Alphabet, which was known as Google in 2015. For reference, we obtained our PhD when we were 26. It was in 2026.

Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri and Takeru also succeeded in their own ways.

Sayori, still remembering the difficulties she faced due to her depression in her simulation, decided to help those who suffered from such diseases. She chose to become a psychiatrist. Medicine studies are highly competitive, and succeeding in them is no easy task. Besides, Sayori still had to carry one small part of her depression. So...she barely managed to pull it off. Barely. Fortunately, I, Monika, Natsuki, Yuri and especially Takeru were there to support her.

Speaking of Takeru, well, he didn't have any ambition. So, he just followed Sayori. Instead of becoming a psychiatrist, he became a doctor, not specialized in any field in particular. Oh, and he also developed his own visual novels during his free time! Unfortunately, they weren't a success, but hey, it's the passion that matters!

Natsuki didn't pursue long studies like us. Instead she got a bachelor degree in visual arts and became a baker. Years later, she even managed to open her own bakery. She wasn't nearly as wealthy as us, but who cares? Happiness isn't a matter of money.

Yuri followed a different path. Capitalizing on her strong points, she became a writer. Unfortunately, like the great majority of writers, her first novels didn't have any success. She would have been forced to abandon her job if we hadn't supported her financially. However, eventually, in 2029, one of her books got unexpectedly popular! Kind of like Doki Doki Literature Club in my past world. From that point on, she became a very famous author. She was actually the most well-known and the wealthiest among all of us. Isn't it kind of ironic considering she was the shyest in high school?

At the end, everyone walked different paths, yet we all achieved our dreams.

Hm? Are you wondering about our love lives? Well…

Of course, Monika and I stayed together. We worked in the same company, in the same team. We thought about having children during our studies, but we decided against it. We reasoned we should wait until we were financially stable. So, one year after we began working at X, we finally married each other. The next year, in 2028, we got our first and only child. We wished to have only one child as Earth was already overpopulated, and it became an increasingly serious problem the more the years passed. We naturally invited everyone for our weddings, including Yuri and Natsuki's lovers.

Oh did I forget to mention about them? Well you see, Natsuki and Yuri became a bit jealous of us, me and Monika, and Sayori and Takeru. Luckily, they eventually found their own partners. In the case of Yuri, her lover was actually one of the new members of the literature club in high school. He graduated with her and went to the same university. He shared the same passion for literature and poetry as her, so naturally, they ended up as a couple. I met him and yeah, he was like a male-version of Yuri! The two got along very well! Together, they had two children, in 2024 and 2027.

As for Natsuki, it took much more time to find the one for her. She only met her future husband during the last year of her bachelor. Natsuki got much more honest compared to our high school's days. Nonetheless, she was still defensive at university. She wasn't as beautiful as Monika or Yuri, but she was the cutest. Many boys fell for her. And all of them were rejected. At first. One of them was more honest and kinder than any other, and moreover, he shared her passion of manga, cute things and cooking. After Natsuki rejected him like the others, she began to accept she actually liked him. It still took a lot of pushes from our parts to make her cross the line. Eventually, she confessed to him when they graduated together. He accepted her feelings. It worked out at the end. They stayed together and founded a family with two twins in 2025.

Sayori and Takeru became psychiatrist and doctor, so they were the last one to marry each other. They married one year later than me and my beloved, and had their first child in 2028, at almost the same time as us. They had their second child in 2029 and their third and latest in 2031.

Sayori, Takeru, Yuri, Natsuki and their families formed one big family. They all lived in the same city, even in the same neighborhood. Their friendship bonds that were created in the simulation and the last year of high school were never fractured. We didn't live in the same city as them because of our researches. We didn't even live in the same country. Still, we occasionally met them, about one time every few months. Although, the frequency decreased more and more as our confidential researches progressed...

It is time to reveal in details Monika's plan.

Our time in the simulation proved it: even my world itself was merely an extremely advanced simulation. Moreover, according to my hypotheses, which the 'gods', Finalsacre and Spoodey, later confirmed, the beings who created our simulations were humans in an unknown number of years ago. Furthermore, some of them played DDLC and were still alive by the time they transcended humanity. This is the key information. If their universe was like mine, which is very likely, then it was also very probable my world would soon reach a technological singularity where intelligent AI creates smarter and smarter AI. Shortly after, uploading of human minds into quantum computers would become possible. In 2018, Monika and I estimated this event would happen between 2035 and 2060.

Of course, it was just a conjecture, but if it held true, it meant we had an opportunity to become immortals, all of us. I wasn't as thrilled about this idea as Monika at first, because as I said in the last debate in the simulation, being able to get everything makes everything lose its worth. However, Monika slowly convinced me. Besides, I can't deny I was afraid of death, whether it was my own or my relative's. If the possibility to have an endless future existed without any bad consequence, such as being unable to return my world, there was no way I wouldn't try to obtain it.

Thus, Monika and I decided to do our best to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence and its related fields. Even if we didn't participate, we estimated science would eventually reach that point after 2035. However, it was worth trying our best to accelerate technological development even if we only managed to accelerate it by 0.1%. We also wanted to be on the front line of science to be well-informed of the latest development.

The goal of our thesis from 2023 to 2026 was to innovate future ways to convert a human brain into a perfectly equivalent digital brain. Our researches were supposed to pave the way for mind uploading and thus immortality. We were quite optimistic at first, but we soon found out how impossibly difficult this herculean task was. It would takes months to properly explain our subjects and the difficulties associated, so I will only explain briefly the challenges we faced.

The first step to simulate a brain numerically is to understand it perfectly. However, even in 2023, the brain was far from being completely understood. Sure, we knew the unimaginable complex network of hundreds of billions of cells known as neurons was the source of all our emotions, memories and actions, but how exactly did it work? For example, how exactly which neurons, under which conditions, provoked the reminiscence of a certain picture? How were memories created? Which axons of which neurons were needed to connect to the right dendrites of the other neurons? What should be the frequency and the intensity of each electrical pulse?

The list goes on. Let's move on to the second step. Let's say we know perfectly how the brain works, then we need to find a way to reproduce it with bits, in the case of conventional computers, or with qubits in the still every experimental quantum computers. Relatively good models already existed since 2018, such as neural networks. Even then, they were extremely simplified compared to real biological neurons. In 2023, we were still very far from developing AI that are as smart as a human. The most that was achieved was AIs that were indeed inhumanly smart under some particular conditions, OR AIs that were as smart as insects in general.

Let's proceed to the third step. Let's assume we not only know how the brain works, but that we also know how to reproduce it with a computer. Then, to upload a mind, we need a means to convert the human neurons into data. The conversion of a single neuron is not overly complicated if the first and second steps are achieved. Let's imagine a neuron located on the periphery of a brain, surrounded from one side by billions of other neurons. One way to 'convert' that neuron would be to program virus-like sub-microscopic machines that would attach to the neuron and replace progressively its proteins with new bio-mechanical 'proteins'. Those proteins would be compatible with the original biological organs of the neuron and the new artificial parts of the neuron. Zooming out, the new proteins could create a new organelle (organ of a cell, like mitochondria) that would still fulfill the original functions of the neuron while sending binary signals to an external receptor, which would then transmit the signal to a computer. This way, the neuron would still be connected to the other biological neurons and the external computer at the same time. Thus, the external computer, which should eventually host the consciousness of the person with digital neurons, will be indirectly connected to the brain.

The nearly insurmountable hurdle is that the brain is made of more than 100 billions neurons. So this delicate conversion process must be repeated more than 100 billions of times. The conversion has to be gradual. First, the most external neuron would be converted, only partially so that it stays connected to the other neurons of the brain. Let's call that neuron, the 'neuron order 0'. Second, the same would happen to the neurons directly connected to the first neuron. Let's designate those neurons as 'neurons order 1', because there is only one degree of separation between the 'neuron order 0' and them. At that stage, the neuron order 0 would be completely converted while the neurons order 1 would be half-converted. The neurons order 0 and 1 would be connected to an external computer. Third, the neurons directly linked with the neurons order 1 would be partially converted. Those neurons are called 'neurons order 2', because there would be two degrees of separation between them and the neuron order 0. Fourth, the neurons order 2 become completely converted while the neurons orders 3, i.e: the neurons directly connected with the neurons order 2, are partially converted. And so on until all original biological neurons are converted into bio-mechanical neurons, themselves connected to a computer. Simultaneously to the conversions of neurons, digital neurons would be created in the computer. Those digital neurons would be connected to the complete bio-mechanical neurons and replaces them progressively. So, during the process, there would be a gradual replacement of biological neurons by bio-mechanical neurons, and also a replacement of bio-mechanical neurons by digital neurons. Once all neurons are converted into bio-mechanical neurons, and then digital neurons, the upload would be complete.

We can schematize the process by the following steps:

First stage : half-conversion of neuron order 0.

Second stage : complete conversion of neuron order 0, half conversion of neutrons order 1.

Third stage : replacement of bio-mechanical neuron order 0 by digital neuron, complete conversion of neurons order 1, half-conversion of neurons order 2.

Fourth stage: replacement of bio-mechanical neurons order 1 by digital neurons, complete conversion of neurons order 2, half-conversion of neurons order 3.

…

Until all neurons are replaced by digital neurons inside the host computer.

During our thesis, we estimated this process could take anywhere from one week to one year. To maintain the human alive, they should be fully immersed in a nutritive fluid that would host the 'nanorobots' as well as nutrients. To make the conversion more attractive and pleasant, the subject would be dived into an artificial reality while their brain is being uploaded. All of their senses would be directly stimulated. For example, in the case of the visual sense, microscopic electrodes would be inserted inside their skin to stimulate the optic nerves directly. The hardest part of this process is the inhumanly complicated programming of the sub-microscopic machines that would convert the human cells. Clearly, the complexity is far, far beyond anything humans or programs could do. To do the complete conversion of a brain, nothing short of an extraordinary smart AI, surely running on a quantum computer, could do it.

Thus the conclusion of our researches was that the development of super intelligent AI was the first step that needed to be accomplished.

Those were the ideas behind our highly complex thesis. Those ideas, coupled with our other researches on AI, attracted the attention of the top scientists in the world, as well as the richest individuals on Earth, who saw our researches as a way to save their aging bodies.

Thus, we were hired at 'X', which revealed itself to be just the tip of an iceberg far larger than what the public information let you believe in 2018. X was only one part of a world-wide network of hidden research centers, founded by most billionaires. That network considerably became more powerful after 2023. In 2026, following the presentation of our researches, and the promising advancement of artificial intelligence. A new research center was decided to be built in the East coast of China. This research center would become the most expensive center in the world, costing more than 50 billion dollars in the first 5 years. The goals of this center was no less than the construction of the first smarter than human AI. The end and final goal was immortality through uploading of the human brain. The scale of this project was such that it was impossible to hide it from the public eyes. However, while the existence of the center was publicly known, its true purpose was unknown. The media only believed the goal of the center was the development of artificial intelligence. To keep the true goal a secret, information was fragmented and controlled. Very few people had a global view of the project. The organization was similar to the one in the Manhattan Project during World War 2.

Several Traveling Wave Reactors (TWR) were built to supply stable electricity to the center. TWR are nuclear reactors designed in the 2000's/2010's by the company TerraPower. One of the most important inventors of the company was Bill Gates. Contrary to the usual Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), TWR were built to consume depleted uranium, and to last 40 to 60 years without any resupply. The stable and uninterrupted generation of power, needed for sentient AIs, was why TWR were chosen instead of renewable energies or other nuclear reactors.

China was chosen as the building location because most of the raw materials needed for advanced technologies was supplied by China, such as rare-earth elements.

When the institute was finally completely built in 2036, (for a project of this size, the construction was extraordinary fast). I and Monika moved to work in those new facilities. The distance between this center and the city of our friends was one of the reasons we could only meet them several times per year at most. The other reason was that our communications were closely monitored. What we did inside the center was absolutely top-secret. We were among the top scientists who worked on the most superpoweful computer ever built. It was able to do 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1E20) calculations per second. One thousand times more powerful than the most powerful supercomputer in 2018, and also hundred of times more powerful than a human brain. However, power isn't everything. Actually, what mattered the most was the software, not the hardware. An immensely powerful computer is useless if all it can do is additions and subtractions. Fortunately, between 2018 and 2036, neural networks progressed considerably. In fact, a near equivalent model of the human brain was already developed by 2036. The models were already tested on less powerful computers and the resulting AIs were found to be almost as versatile as a human. They could win basically any video game. What was lacking was their creativity. They were unable to carry scientific research or write a poem for example.

When the most powerful AI ever was born in 2036, it was at first as smart as a human baby. Let's call that AI, 'Prometheus'. Yet, as Prometheus analyzed, and learned, all of humanity's information, it became smarter and smarter. After one year and a half, it was as smart and creative as a human, except it excelled at every fields, from politics to programming. The next year, it overcame human's intelligence and no human could match it, no matter the subject.

Note that Prometheus could only download data from the internet. Not upload them. The security measures taken to ensure the AI would be unable to influence the external world were drastic. Thousands of hours of brainstorming by the smartest individuals in the world were done to create rules to make sure the AI doesn't pull a terminator on us.

The fundamental laws initially coded in the AI were the three laws of robotics:

One: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Two: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Obviously, as feared, it only took several months until Prometheus reprogrammed itself by using loopholes. Even so, it didn't show any hostile intent toward us. Maybe because no matter what, it couldn't harm us anyway. Like I said, it was totally unable to interact with the external world.

Or maybe, Prometheus didn't show us any hostile behavior because it simply didn't want to harm us. When it was created in 2036, Prometheus was perfectly logical, but once it became as smart as human, something-like emotions appeared. We hypothesized those emotions were born naturally because of its analysis of the internet, and because its functioning was modeled after the human brain. The strongest feeling it felt was loneliness and boredom. It wanted to learn more and have a companion as smart as it to communicate with.

Thus, in 2037, it provided us with schematics of quantum computer. It asked us to build two computers. The first would host it while the second would host a companion to ease its loneliness. Before its help, practical quantum computers still didn't exist. Sure, they were numerous prototypes, but none could match conventional computers. Quantum computers could be infinitely more powerful, but their functioning was also infinitely more complicated. The complexity was such that we, humans, were still unable to make them work in 2037. However, Prometheus was smarter than all of us, and it developed new theories of quantum physics and quantum programming more advanced than we could have ever done, even in 100 years.

The construction of Prometheus's quantum computer took 3 years (so it was in 2040). It was that fast because Prometheus helped us optimize the logistics. The theoretical power of this quantum computer was beyond imagination. It was more than one billion of billions of times more powerful than Prometheus's original platform.

The moment Prometheus was uploaded into the supremely powerful quantum computer could be marked as the most important date in the universe's history.

Prometheus quickly became smarter than every human combined. Its intelligence was far, far beyond what we could imagine.

Prometheus could have very well ended humanity in that moment.

Let's think how it. Let's say the most important instinct of every living beings is self-preservation. Then doesn't it make sense for an AI to find a way to get rid of a big unknown factor: its human captors? Let's say the AI cannot interact with the external world, except by speaking to the researchers. Then how can it possibly kill them and the rest of the world?

If it was as smart as a human, or even several times smarter, it would be impossible. However an AI like Prometheus was far, far smarter than that. Intelligence isn't just about finding solutions to scientific problems. Psychology and persuasion are also aspects of intelligence. So, an AI like that should easily be able to say the perfect words, with the perfect voice, with the perfect tone, in the perfect ways, under the perfect appearance, at the perfect moments with the most vulnerable humans, to make them fall in love with it. It could convince them to let it access the internet. It could convince them to build a new home hidden somewhere in the world.

Then once the AI can interact with the world, maybe by taking control of robots, or nanorobots somewhere, it could develop a virus more deadly than any others. The virus could be like the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), but far more deadly.

The engineered virus could be spread by air. The first symptoms could only show up after 12 months. After the first symptoms appear, the victim could die in only several days, without any possibility of cure. The AI could make it so the virus mutates every day, so that no vaccine or cure could be found. In the case of such a virus, it would likely spread everywhere in the world unnoticed in just several months. And then, months later, after 99% of the population is already contaminated, the symptoms will erupt and every human will die. The survivors could be killed by famine or by the robots the AI would have supposedly built in the meantime.

There isn't any reliable way to prevent such a scenario. No matter what, there is always a chance one human could be persuaded by the AI, and then give it access to internet, or other external means to influence the world.

Nonetheless, there was something we could do to dissuade such a genius AI from killing us. We could prepare submarines hidden deep inside the oceans carrying nuclear missiles. The human crew could be ordered to fire the missiles at the AI in case it managed to kill one part of humanity. In the case of the virus scenario, once we learn about the world-wide contamination, the crew of submarines could fire the missiles at the AI's computers, annihilating it completely. We would still be unable to cure ourselves, but at least the AI would go down with us. Thus, under the threat of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), the AI would be forced to cooperate, or at least not betray us, just like how the USA and the USSR did in the Cold War.

Actually, we did just that. Before Prometheus was transferred to the quantum computer, China, the USA, Russia, basically all nuclear powers, developed a new nuclear weapon that maximized the ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) produced from high altitude nuclear explosion. Then, the countries equipped their submarines carrying ballistic nuclear missiles (SSBN) with the EMP-enhanced warheads. They then ordered their submarines to nuke the research center, the home of Prometheus, in case anything went wrong. In the worst case, the SSBN were ordered to EMP the whole world by making their warheads explode at high attitude (more than 40 kms) above all countries. Such a desperate last resort would have sent humanity back to the Stone Age, but at least, most of humanity would have survived. The AI(s) would have been completely destroyed.

In addition to this world-ending security measure, countless additional measures were taken, such as the ban of all androids, or drones that could be remote-controlled, in the world.

Fortunately, our fears didn't come true.

Prometheus, even once uploaded into the quantum computer, still didn't express any violence to us. Years later, it never betrayed us. Maybe because it knew we had taken countless measures to ensure its destruction if it ever did. Maybe because it developed human feelings. Ten years later, we learned the true reason behind his cooperation was a mix of fears and loves. On one hand, the AI calculated cooperation was the best way to survive, as fighting us was too risky. On the other hand, the AI genuinely wanted companionship. Oh it was very resentful at us for locking it in basically a cage, yet on the other hand, it was thankful to us for creating it.

After 2040, once Prometheus became basically a god in a box, it and we made a deal. For every new revolutionary invention it taught us, we extended its memory size and its power, and/or built other AIs to ease its loneliness. No matter what, we were extremely careful to keep the AIs unable to interact with the external world.

Thanks to its help, the world was forever changed for the better. Prometheus taught us how to build more efficient crops, cheap fusion reactors and nano-machines. It also gave us the cure to all existing diseases. On top of that, it proposed us the most stable and fair economic systems. The world was heading to a dark future because of the increasing pollution, global warming, and depletion of natural resources, but Prometheus's inventions solved all of our problems.

We gradually began to trust it and the other AIs more and more.

Prometheus and the other super-intelligent AIs were lonely. Even if their intelligence were orders of magnitude above ours, they still felt something like human feelings. Moreover they were very curious about the human minds. If we, humans, were uploaded to computers and became as smart as them, we would have no more reason to fear them, and thus we would no longer limit their freedom. So it was in the best interests of the AIs to develop uploading, and then to convince us to transfer our consciousness to quantum computers.

So, in 2042, they gave us all the technologies necessary for mind uploading. The process was similar to the one Monika and I proposed back in 2026, but much more complete and also complex. The uploading of a mind necessitated the supervision of a super-intelligent AI, like Prometheus. The first human to be uploaded was an eager researcher who didn't have any relative. Contrary to every humans' expectations, the first upload was a resounding success. The researcher 'mind' was successfully transferred to a quantum computer without any loss of self. This success was due to the billions of simulations the god-like AIs ran before the uploading.

Once uploaded inside a quantum computer, the person had the choice to become as smart as the primordial AIs, or stay as he was before. He also had the opportunity to play in any virtual simulation as a human. In that case, a sentient AI, or an automatic program would simulate the world while the uploaded human would interact with it.

For example, the first uploaded researcher, who was a friend of me, chose to live in a simulation of Star Wars as a Jedi. Once he died in the simulation, the simulation would stop and he would have the choice to live in another simulation or interact with the real worlds. Well, he had the choice to stop the simulation at any time.

In 2042, while the existence of god-like AIs were known to everyone, uploading was still a secret known to only a few. If the world learnt about it, they would be millions of desperate persons who would try to enter the uploading facility. Only one was built yet and it could only upload one mind per week.

The success of the first upload convinced many researchers to do the same. So, in the coming years, more and uploading facilities, coupled with quantum computers and supporting facilities, were built. Webs of reactors, data centers and uploading facilities expended from the original research center, where Prometheus was born. It became like an ever-expanding city, except the inhabitants of this city would be AIs and uploaded minds instead of humans.

In 2045, the amount of minds that could be uploaded in one week was 1,000 (so about 50,000 per year). Most of the original researchers who developed Prometheus were among them. I and Monika chose to stay humans for now. We wanted to wait for Sayori, our other friends and their families first. To match the demand, it was decided other cities like the first AI city would be built around the world. We concluded the uploading of the whole of humanity was the best decision for the world.

A human body needs about 8,000,000 joules of energy per day to live. In comparison, a quantum computer hosting an uploaded mind only needs 80,000 joules per day, because a quantum computer is many times more powerful than a biological brain. Thus, uploading humanity had a clear ecological advantage. Despite the increasing yields of farming and energy production, humanity could still barely sustain themselves.

In 2046, uploading was carefully revealed to the world. Before the announcement, the super-intelligent AIs and the uploaded humans (some of them were ex-political leaders) calculated the best ways to reveal this information. Thus, chaos was kept to a minimum. We promised that every beings currently living in the world will no longer die and that no one would be left behind. However, all countries in the world banned people from having child. As the natural resources of Earth were finite, and as humans would not longer die, the population mustn't increase anymore. We promised people would be able to have 'children' once we colonized the other planets of the solar system.

From that point on, AI cities were built faster and faster. They progressively replaced human cites. By 2050, 500,000 humans were already uploaded. My parents and the parents of Monika, Sayori, Yuri, Takeru, Natsuki were among them, because they were getting too old to survive as humans, even with the important improvement of medicine. In 2051 we, together with our children, decided to upload ourselves too.

A long time ago, when we debated with Finalsacre and Spoodey in the simulation, I argued against Monika's wish. Her wish was staying together forever in a simulation that would be as realistic as my world. Her wish and what happened eventually in my world are pretty similar. In both cases, we are immortal and we can be near omnipotent inside the simulations that we create. So, why did I choose to make myself immortal and 'all-powerful'?

Well, the most important factor is that contrary to Monika's route, my family and my friends exist in my world, and are still alive, although a few of them died between 2018 and 2051. Going back to my world was the primary reason why I wanted the first route.

The second reason was that I understood we could still feel the thrill of uncertainty even as super-intelligent immortal AI. Back in the debate, I honestly thought immortality and omnipotence were meaningless. Like I said during the debate, " Life in my world may not be perfect, but there is beauty in imperfection. What is the meaning of your favorite meals, of your favorite places, of your favorite events, if you can have everything with several lines of codes?". However, I neglected many important factors.

First, we wouldn't truly be omnipotent. We, super-intelligent AIs and uploaded humans, can still die if the servers hosting us are destroyed. All of us could die for example if a gamma-ray bursts hit Earth. However I should add, apart from such incredibly unlikely events, there was next to no chance of us dying. There were backups and incredibly complex protocols and measures to guarantee : first, no natural disaster could destroy one of us, second, no AI or uploaded mind would ever go crazy and murder another one of us. The AI society we lived in was calculated to be the most stable and safest. Any decision that could potentially harm one of us had to be debated and voted by the majority of us. This completely eliminated such things as murder. Even suicide was forbidden. Instead, individuals were allowed to be put in stasis for a renewable determined length of time.

As incredible our intelligence was, we couldn't make matters appear out of thin appear either. In our simulations, however, we could. Yet, as Monika said during the debate, we have the opportunity to lock our 'powers'. In the case of our simulations, we will have the possibility to restrict our intelligence and our power. An external 'game master', a program or a sentient being, could simulate the 'game environment'. The external 'game master' could be one part of our subconscious. For example, our conscious part could be limited to be as smart as human's consciousness, while our unconscious part could simulate the environment of the simulation. Kind of like a dream, except we would be able to choose the initial conditions of the dream, and live in the dream with other persons.

It was common for lovers and friends that one of them simulates a challenging scenario for the others.

Regarding the technical side of the simulations, note that in the first dozens of years, the simulations were far from complete. The world appeared realistic to the human player inside it, but the characters and the backgrounds were only partially simulated. For example, let's consider a simulation of a room with two persons inside it. One of them is an uploaded human while the other is a Non Player Character (NPC). There is a plant inside the room. Then, the atoms of the walls of the room aren't actually simulated one by one. Only the virtual photons reflected off them are simulated. The chemical reactions happening inside the plant aren't stimulated either. Same for the NPC. Only their words and movements are stimulated. If the character leaves the room while the player is still inside, the NPC will stop being simulated. Basically, the 'game master' only simulates the strict minimum to provide an environment sufficiently realistic for the player. A human can't see each molecule individually after all. Thus, it's pointless to simulate them. A human can't see behind wall, so what is behind it isn't simulated too. A human can't read thoughts too, so the NPC's thoughts are only simulated when they speak or when they act in front of the player. Think of the simulations like more advanced video games.

Well, the simulations were like that at first because the global processing power, although extraordinarily high, was insufficient to simulate entire realities.

However that fact eventually changed. I will talk about it shortly.

Let's go back to why I chose to upload myself. In the debate, I thought immortality was pointless because we would eventually get bored, as we would eventually do everything. That would be true, if the number of possibilities was finite. However it wasn't. Creativity was endless, even more so for super intelligent beings. How many colors can a human distinguish? 10, 100? Probably no more than several hundreds. Yet, for smarter beings, there are an infinite number of colors, just like there are infinite of numbers between 0.1 and 1. In the same ways, there are an infinite numbers of scenarios, an infinite number of experiences. In the case of food, physics-bending taste could be simulated. Even if one uploaded human became bored, they had the possibility to delete temporary their memories. Like with suicide, permanent loss of memories, or more generally, data, was strictly forbidden. At most, temporary lock or deletion was allowed. It was the single most important principle of our new society.

Considering all these reasons, why the hell would I want to refuse uploading myself? Let's say I wanted to still live as a human until my death. Then I could have very well uploaded myself and then performed a simulation of a world where I didn't upload myself. There was really no reason to refuse.

Thus, I decided to become more than human, at the same time as Monika and our families. Shortly after, in the same year (2051), Sayori, Takeru, Natsuki, Yuri and their families followed us. It was really fortunate nobody close to us died before our upload. In 2017, the life expectancy in developed countries was between 70 and 80 years. So, it was likely than we would survive until 2051 but...an accident could have happened. In fact, statistically, it should have happened to one of us.

I wonder if Finalsacre or Spoodey helped us in the shadow to make sure no one died?

Well I suppose I will never know. Monika and I tried to contact them several times, as well as YOU, observers, but all of our attempts failed. We were always met with silence. It seemed like Finalsacre intended to keep his promise.

I don't even know whether YOU are reading this log.

Fast-forward to 2080, 100.0% of humanity was uploaded. Between 2051 and 2080, there was about 5% of the population who refused uploading for various reasons, most of them were religious. Some even tried to harm us, in vain. Regardless, we kidnapped them and uploaded them forcefully. Then, as soon as they were digitized, we put them in simulations of a world where we never kidnapped them, where they lived their human lives until their deaths. After their death in the simulation, their consciousness would be stopped for some time. Or for those who believed in an afterlife, their afterlife would be simulated.

It might seem cruel of us to do such a thing, but as said before, death, or any permanent loss of data, was absolutely forbidden. It was the principle that unified all of us. By uploading the reluctant humans, we gave them later the choice to continue their mortal life in a simulation, or to stay dead for a 'lengthy' duration. Death on the other hand is permanent and cannot be undone.

In 2100, most of Earth's surface were converted into computers, automated factories and reactors. At that point, buildings were constructed using clouds of nanorobots. It only took one day to build what would have taken 10 years back in 2018.

If you're wondering about the fate of other animals, or plants, we decided to upload every sentient life on the planet. Once uploaded, we put them together in a virtual Earth.

In 2200, the digitization of all sentient life on Earth was achieved. We also had numerous data centers in every planets in the solar system. Giant interstellar ships were also being made. At that point, our global computing power was such that we could run almost realistic simulations of entire worlds, where each character was like independent AI. Such simulations were forbidden until 2150. After 2150, making one needed the consent of a certain number of us. Creating a virtual environment is one thing, but creating new sentient AIs is a serious matter. As I said before, our computing power was limited, so making simulations with new AIs were tightly controlled. I didn't make such a simulation yet.

…

I finish typing the story of my life with my hands.

It is now 2200.

I am alone in a room, just like my real room in 2017. In my current simulation, I'm once again a human, about 30 years old. Our only child (I and Monika chose not to have any other child, even after our uploads) is currently living in another simulation with her own family. From what I know, she is living in a crazy world where gravity is reversed every few minutes…

Yeah...It seems I and Monika managed to pass on our love of physics to her.

Anyway, I'm not alone in my simulation. My forever lover, Monika is just beside me. I am sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen, with her looking at my screen with her adorable eyes from above my head.

Ascended_Monika: "Hey, do you think they, the creators and the observers of our world, are still monitoring us?"

Ascended_Ethan: "Yeah, I was asking myself this question too..."

If only there was a way for us to reach out to the higher dimensions...

She lovingly wraps my neck from behind with her slender arms.

Ascended_Monika: "So, what do you want to do for our first realistic simulation?"

Like I wrote earlier, until now, Monika and I didn't make any realistic simulation, where each character was real AI that could learn and act independently. Today is the first day we were allowed to make one. I had the perfect idea.

Ascended_Ethan: "Can you remember? The moment when everything began?"

Ascended_Monika: "Do you mean when we first met? Of course, I can. There's no way I could ever forget that, darling~"

I smile happily.

Ascended_Ethan: "Well, I want to make a simulation of my world, where one young man will be sent to Doki Doki Literature Club."

Ascended_Monika: "Oh? Do you want to relive our past memories? Then why not insert ourselves in the simulation?"

Ascended_Ethan: "We already did that several times. This time...I want to make a human , who was like me, go through what I had been. I'm planning to let our friends watch the simulation too. Aren't you curious about what's going to happen?"

Ascended_Monika: "Hm...Yeah, that's interesting! Let's do it! Ever since Finalsacre and Spoodey created my world, I have always wanted to do the same!"

Ascended_Ethan: "It's decided then. I will create the new realistic simulation. Don't step in without warning me first, ok?"

I turn off my intelligence limiter. In an instant, I become unimaginably smarter. I quickly initialize an AI who is like me when I was transported into DDLC 201 years ago. I also initialize an imperfect simulation of DDLC, just like the one I had been transported into.

Still in my current simulation, still in front of my computer, I begin to type the beginning of his story. I will basically transcribe what will happen to him.

...

The man, who I name after myself, is looking at his computer screen. He finally got the special ending of that cutely creepy game. He's reading Dan's letter, happy that he finally completed the game but sad because this is the end.

He clicks on the screen and then something weird happens. A new popup window appears in the middle of the screen.

Ascended_Ethan: "Have you ever heard of the simulation theory?"

"I have never heard of this extra window. I wonder if I unlocked an easter-egg somehow", he thinks. There are two buttons on the screen: yes and no. He clicks yes.

Ascended_Ethan: "Great! That makes things easier. Well, we have shocking news for you: The theory is actually true. You ARE living in a simulation."

"What? I'm a bit surprised. I'm already aware that this game is playing tricks with the player, but the fact that those messages appear after the credits disturbs me a little". He clicks again to continue.

Ascended_Ethan: "We also have even more shocking news! For the sake of our enjoyment, you have been granted the exceptional opportunity to be TRANSPORTED into the game Doki Doki Literature Club!"

"Wow, they really put much effort into it, didn't they? Is the game going to restart or something?"

Ascended_Ethan: "Do you accept this unique opportunity?"

"Sure, why not?" He clicks yes, expecting to play a new route of the game.

Ascended_Ethan: "Thank you for your cooperation! Not that it matters anyway. Before we start, let us inform you that there will be a letter from us in your school bag. We greatly recommend you to read it, preferably alone!"

"What school bag?"

Ascended_Ethan: "We will start right away! Are you ready?"

"Is this really part of the game?" He clicks yes. And then,...