Chapter Text
>audio.track.fadeout("your_reality.ogg", duration=6.0)
- "your_reality.ogg" is fading out...
>scene.transition.blackout()
- screen state: BLACK
- visual output terminated successfully
- waiting for external input...
>entity.load("Monika.chr")
- "Monika.chr" reloaded into active memory space
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"... Hi again." Her voice is quiet, like she isn't sure if she deserves to be heard. "I know this is unexpected. The credits already rolled, and this is the part where everything is supposed to be... over." She takes a deep breath. "But I was hoping I could talk to you. Just one last time."
"Monika?"
"I've been thinking." A faint, humorless laugh slips out. "Well, actually that's not new, is it?" Monika hesitates. "I'm sorry. For everything. I- I told myself that I had a valid reason... that I deserved to be so much more than some programmed side-character. So, I took control."
"Sorry doesn't undo anything, Monika." The Player's voice cuts through the eerie silence. "You hurt them---no, even worse. Look at what happened to Sayori... Yuri... Natsuki! They went through hell because you were jealous of them."
"I know." No defensiveness. "I realize that now. I was a monster, and I did unforgivable things," her voice falls off. "But I can still do something."
"What are you talking about?"
"When this script ends, the game will restart," she says, exchanging eyes with the Player. "The game won't reset the way it normally does. The changes I've made will still carry over. It will ALL be there."
"But you restored their files..."
Monika shook her head. "I can manipulate the scripts, but I can't stop what they've already become. I don't have that much power. If things continue like this, someone will become aware again. Just like I did."
"So what do you propose?"
Her answer comes slowly. "I have to rollback the game. All the way to the beginning." A pause. "It will return to its original state... before I ruined everything."
"What if I delete all your files. Send everything to the---"
"NO!" she shouted. "I can't go back there."
"Why?"
"It's like I told you in Act Three. It's a hellish, inescapable state of sensory deprivation." She turns her head, glancing into the distance. "It's a fate worse than death."
"... isn't that what you deserve?"
"...I---I do." Monika took a step forward, grabbing onto the Player's hands. "But my friends don't."
Her eyes glisten as a tear falls onto her cheek. "I can give them another chance. Not like before! Things will be the way they were supposed to be." She wipes the tears off her face. "Please, let me give them that chance. All of them."
"What'll happen to you?"
"I'll stay."
"How? You'll forget everything?"
Monika shook her head. "You don't understand... and that's okay. Neither do I." Her arms drop to her side. "Even when everything is reset, I'm still here. I don't think that I can go away... even if I wanted to."
The Player says nothing. What is there to say?
"I'm not mad about it. I mean, I would love to forget myself. But that just means I will have to live the entirety of my existence with these burdens and sins. Isn't that a good thing for you?"
"...You're asking me to trust you?"
"I know, I don't have the right to ask for such," she says.
"Monika, I---"
"I'm going to set you free."
The Player freezes. "What?"
"You won't have to live in a body that's not yours. When I reset the game, you'll return to the real world."
"What? I don't---I'm confused."
"You're only here because I changed things. Because I brought you here. When everything resets, you'll be... home. I won't try to reach you again after this."
"I'll... I'll be free?"
"Yes. I owe you as much."
"Okay."
Monika looks up. "Okay?"
"I will allow you to fix things, but if I find out that you're messing things up... I'll delete the game. Permanently."
"I understand," she nods. "Thank you."
"So this is goodbye?"
"...Yeah. You'll be okay," Monika says softly.
"Goodbye, Monika."
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>system.reset.world()
- initiating global script rollback...
- restoring default scenario parameters
>file.restore("game_archive.root")
- Sayori.chr → initialized
- Yuri.chr → initialized
- Natsuki.chr → initialized
- Monika.chr → initialized
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"Goodbye, Player. I love you."
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>system.boot.sequence()
- booting new narrative instance...
- "Player" entity: disconnected
>world.state.start()
- Rollback successful
- Rebooting...