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."

Ethan: "Okay. Then let's keep an eye on them, just in case."

What a relief...Now, we know what is happening everywhere...Finally some good news.

Monika: "Of course. I will make sure nothing happens to them. I'll definitely not let you to die."

Ethan: "Thanks Monika...There are several other things I want to talk about."

Monika: "Please tell me."

Ethan: "The 'gods' told me something else. They told me they gave one letter to one of the club members. They recommended me to find that girl and read the letter."

Monika: "A letter? Do you have any idea about the content or the identity of the girl?"

Ethan: "No idea but it must be something very important. About the girl, it should be either Sayori, Natsuki or Yuri. You didn't get anything, right?"

Monika: "No, I didn't. I'll look at the logs to see if one of them got something recently…"

…

Monika: "Ahh...there's too much information...I can see what is happening right now but it's so difficult to understand past events...It's like looking for a grain of sand inside a desert…"

Hmmm so her omniscient ability is limited by her data analysis speed.

Ethan: "I don't really know how it works but maybe you can try looking for the keywords 'letter', 'god', 'dream'?"

Monika: "Yeah…"

...

Several minutes pass.

Monika: "Sorry. I can't find something yet…"

Ethan: "It's okay. We can always subtly ask the girls later. Let's change the subject. There's something really bothering me. Did you notice that new objects kept appearing when Sayori was here?"

Monika: "Actually I wanted to talk about that too. I discovered it when I was with Sayori in the kitchen. It seems like every time Sayori speaks of something, the object she is thinking of will materialize."

Ethan: "Right. That's what I thought too. I have a theory that could explain that."

Monika: "I think I understood how it works too. "

Ethan: "Then please say it first, what do you think of these phenomena?"

I'm curious about Monika's opinion. How much did she understand?

Monika: "Ehehe~are you testing me? Then I won't disappoint you!"

She clears her throat.

Monika: "Although the world became much more realistic this morning, it's still not nearly as complex as your world, right? The streets, the houses, almost everything is empty. But the characters living here don't see that. They believe their world is real and are seeing objects that don't actually exist in this world. Yet, if the objects don't actually exist when they try interacting with them, then they will discover this world is fake. To avoid this, the world creates those objects each time a character is about to interact with them."

She finishes her short speech. I'm impressed.

Monika: "How about it?"

Ethan: "I couldn't have explained it better. I think you're totally right, Monika."

Monika: "I knew you came to the same conclusion as me the moment you asked Sayori about the chairs in the room."

Ethan: "Ahaha, yeah that wasn't such a good idea. Sayori got even more worried."

Monika: "Yeah! You should try avoiding that in the future, you know~"

Monika: "Anyways, there are still some things I'm not sure...Like what happens if a character tries to interact with an object if they're not certain it's there? For example, let's say Sayori thinks she lost her pen somewhere in her room. She thinks it might be in one of her drawers or on her desk. Then where will the pen actually be? In the first place she tries to look for? Nowhere? Randomly inside one of her drawers?"

Ethan: "Excellent question...I would guess the world will kind of calculate the likeliest outcome based on the memories of the characters and the state of every objects in the world."

Monika: "Hm...I guess so...Then what if we tell Sayori we saw her pen on her desk and if she believes us? Will the pen really materialize on her desk?"

After some thoughts, I answer:

Ethan: "Hmmm, probably yes."

I think I know where this is going.

Monika: "Let's go a step further, what will happen if I tell her I bought a digital piano and that it's in my house? She has no way of knowing whether it's true."

No character in this world should have awareness of that piano until Monika mentions it. Then...it makes sense the piano wouldn't exist but in that case...if one day Monika invites Sayori to come over at her house and to make her listen to one song she wrote...Then if the piano still doesn't exist, an incoherence will emerge which would be detrimental to the world...Uhhhh

Ethan: "I-I don't know. There are some arguments for and against. We won't know until we try."

Monika gets up and does her Monika-like pose with her left hand pointing the ceiling and her right arm at her side.

Monika: "Let's try it! I will call Sayori and tell her I have an apple in my school bag."

She points her bag which is leaning against the sofa.

Monika: "I will then ask her if she minds if I borrow one knife in the kitchen. Until now, there's no apple in my bag and I didn't see any knife in the kitchen either. So, if my hypothesis is true then both the apple and the knife will appear!"

I also get up. This experiment makes me very excited!

Ethan: "Let's do it! I'm so pumped up for this!"

Monika takes her phone and her bag and invites me to follow her to the kitchen. I do as she suggests.

She then calls Sayori. Sayori quickly picks up and immediately asks something. Monika reassures her nothing bad came up and that she just wants to ask her where she can find a knife. She then asks her if she can borrow it to cut an apple she brought with her. Sayori says some sentences and it looks like she accepts Monika's request. After more exchanges, Monika hangs up.

The effects are immediate. First, drawers appear right in front of us. Monika opens the second one and there is indeed a knife, along with other kitchen utensils. And more importantly…

Monika picks up a green apple from her bag.

I'm amazed.

Ethan: "That's incredible, Monika!"

Monika: "Yeah! I'm so happy it worked! I have so many things I want to try next!"

She examines carefully the apple. It looks perfectly real.

Ethan: "Me too but we should be careful. If we make a mistake, the consequences could be really serious...By the way, where are Yuri and Natsuki now?"

Monika: "They're almost here. They should arrive in 20 minutes or so."

Ethan: "Not much time, huh...Let's go back to the experiment. From what I understood, the most important factor that will determine if an object is created is whether there is a character that firmly believes it exists."

Monika: "Right. And we can use this law to create any object we want by lying to them."

Ethan: "It is very similar to the placebo effect. Have you heard of it?"

Monika: "I have! The placebo effect happens when a sick person is given fake medicine. If the person firmly believes the medicine is real, then the fake medicine will really have the same effects, to a certain degree, as the real medicine. You're right, what happened strongly resembled the placebo effect. Except in our case, the fake medicine will have more than than weaker effects: they will be as strong as the real ones."

Ethan: "And thus, our lies become reality...Alright, there's not much time left before they arrive. Thanks to your idea, I believe I found a way to heal Sayori's depression and the other girls' problems without modifying their character files."

Our visages become more serious.

Monika: "Really?"

Ethan: "You told Sayori we were suffering because of a drug your father mistakenly gave you. Then, if they honestly believe this lie, you can say your father found a medicine to cancel out the effects of the drug. We then give the cure to them and their problems should disappear!"

Monika: "That's great Ethan! I think it can definitely work!"

She hops a little and holds my left hand with both of her hands with a genuine and beautiful smile.

Monika: "I'm so happy to have met you! Being able to physically be with you was already a miracle … but I never dared to dream you would be so kind and smart… I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

...I think so too Monika. I'm truly happy to be with you but...I'm still conflicted about my dilemma.

Ethan: "I should be the one saying that. Besides, it's you who came up with that lie. If at that time you told the truth or a different lie, there might have been no way to cure their problems without deleting them."

Monika: "Thanks Ethan. Aren't we a perfect match then? Ehehe~"

Ethan: "Y-yeah…"

Aha. I'm getting flustered…

My heartbeat is getting faster. I'm getting more and more lost in her emerald eyes and her irresistible smile.

I want to be with her. I want to hug her. I want to love her. I want to accept the confession she told me last night. But I can't. Because if I do, then...I won't be able to go back.

Ethan: "I think we should prepare ourselves. Yuri and Natsuki will arrive very soon, right?"

She lets go of my hand.

Monika: "Right. I need to think about how I can explain to Natsuki and Yuri the lie we told to Sayori…"

Especially Natsuki. The drug was supposed to be put into Natsuki's cupcakes...Oh...

I can see Monika realized the same problem as me.

Monika: "...I fear...I kind of messed up?"