Chasma: Monika

[aono]

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Week 1, post-execution

[aono]

[Rin is not a doctor, so he can't help Kotetsu. Instead, he's going to be wandering around the town listlessly, out of focus and thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.

He does snap out of it when he sees Monika though.]

Oh hey! ...Monika?

[He sounds unsure there, like he's trying to remember her name but might not have it right.]

[rerouter]

[She nods as if to confirm, offering him a tired smile. Sometimes... you are both useless in a medical emergency.]

Yep, that's me. Were you taking a walk to clear your head, too?

[aono]

Yeah. Not much else I can do right now anyway.

[Not that long walks have ever helped him that much.]

How about you? Is it helping at all?

[rerouter]

[... A sigh and a shake of her head.]

I don't know. My head is still all kinds of muddled. What about you?

[aono]

Same. It's just...a lot going on here, I guess.

[Rin, normally the cheerful one, does seem to be weighed down by something.]

Man, what're we gonna do? This isn't going to stop, is it?

[rerouter]

... I don't think it will.

[So, that's unfortunate! She twirls a strand of her hair, frowning at the murky darkness above them.]

And it definitely won't, as long as we don't know why it's happening.

Week 2, post-execution

[aono]

[Monika get over here for memshare fun.

Which means Rin is standing near a tall shelf, while Rinkou is up on the shelf, in cat form and with a paw on a vase of some sort.]

Don't you fucking dare, you piece of shit cat!

[Rinkou pushes the vase sliiiiiightly closer to the edge. Watch out, Monika.]

[rerouter]

[please drop the vase on her head it's what she deserves (no)

But, uh. Poking into the room, Pygmalion sticking close to her.]

Is everything okay...? What's with all the shouting?

[Hello?? She has not noticed the vase situation.]

[aono]

[We will be nice to Monika, the vase is just going to smash to the ground close to her.

Mostly because Rin is screaming and moving to try and drag Monika out of the way of the vase.]

Look out!

[rerouter]

W-Wha— eh?!

[Oh. Well.

She is getting dragged

and stepping right on a memory shard. Cue the memshare.]

[aono]

[THAT. THAT SURE IS A MEMORY.

And Rin definitely plays visual novel games so he's. Familiar. With how the screen is set up. Even if he's seeing it from the other side, it doesn't take much for him to piece it together.

And then he's staring at Monika in some mixture of fear and horror.]

That- is that what I think it is?

[He's not afraid of Monika. He's afraid of the fact that video games might be sentient, if he's understanding these implications.]

[rerouter]

[... Hm. She doesn't know what's going through his head right now. All she can see is the expression on his face, which she returns with a bit of wariness.]

... Do you think it is?

[aono]

[He is. Immediately apologetic. Because he is also an idiot.]

I-I'm so sorry! I didn't know video games were real people!

[Does he really understand?]

[rerouter]

H-Huh?

[Sir...?]

Just what kind of things have you been doing in video games?

[aono]

Well...sometimes when I play them I get really emotional and cry, or I yell at the screen when the characters are doing something dangerous..

[Yeah its relatively innocent. But he's still embarrassed!]

saturday, week three.

[rerouter]

[What is the jail situation even... Monika has a drink from one of the house kitchens that she will offer to him, silently. Hello. How is Rin faring in jail?]

[aono]

[It's a jail! But there are bars on the jail cell, so he can definitely take a drink if she gives him one. Rin seems to be doing okay but he's also just trying to keep calm right now too.]

What's that?

[rerouter]

... Just plain water. I don't know what you like, so I didn't want to risk giving you something you couldn't drink.

[She will, in fact, give him the drink. It is absolutely water. But, after a pause--]

Rin, I'm really sorry we couldn't find the person who hurt Rex and Susato.

[rerouter]

That's it? Jeez, I thought you were the kind of gamer who picked the bad choices on purpose.

[That's so innocent. Sweet, sweet Rin.]

... Anyway, most fictional characters aren't even aware of their situation. I'm just a special case.

[aono]

No way! I tried to do that once to unlock a secret ending, and after one bad choice I had to shut off the game!

...and yeah, you're special. Because you're here!

[Rin's not sure if he should call her a 'real person' but that's the sentiment he's getting at.]

We can see you, so you don't have to be lonely anymore.

[aono]

Honestly, as long as it's not holy water I'm fine.

[He smiles a little. No point in hiding that detail about himself anymore.]

It's alright. We tried our best, yeah? Sometimes it's just not enough. I'm not mad at any of you, promise.

week 4, Thursday

[aono]

[Rin is. Automatically crashing wherever Monika happens to be staying right now. Because yes.]

Hey! Hope you're hungry!

[Because be brought...meat on a stick!

And water.]

[rerouter]

[...

Monika, a vegetarian, politely looks at the meat stick.]

Oh, gosh... I'm not sure I can stomach anything right now, but thank you for thinking of me.

[Not a lie, though. By now, she's at least washed off the blood and tied her slightly charred hair up.]

[aono]

[I fucking forgot Monika is a vegetarian and I'm crying now.

But he'll accept that and instead hold out the water.]

At least have something to drink? And if your stomach is upset I can go looking for crackers.

[Her hair though...she'll need a hair trim maybe.]

[rerouter]

[Maybe! That's a problem for later, though.

She accepts the water with a smile, just... looking super tired.]

No, that's okay. I'll just grab something myself if I feel like eating later. Thank you, Rin.