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[ Monika is sitting placidly behind her piano, smiling like she has no cares in the world. However, something's...off.

Her ponytail is slightly askew, the bow drooping on one side, and her clothes aren't as clean and kempt as usual. But it's probably what's going on in the background that's more interesting.

As in her room is wrecked. Items are strewn about, things are broken, and her piano has an unmistakable crack in it. It's like a tornado tore through, that tornado being her. She doesn't care about wars or any other stupid bullshit, because she has more important things weighing on her mind.

See, the past month hasn't been too good to her. She had a body for a while. And now she doesn't. Monika doesn't like that. The asshole that killed her? Not only ruined her short time with a body, but also got to hit and run in the completely unfun way. She really doesn't like that. And being held captive by a demented bear? REALLY NOT LIKING THAT. Noticing a pattern here?

In short, she mad.

She gives a pleasant little hum, resting her clasped hands on the piano's fallboard. ]

Just a quick question today! Are there any robots around?

[ She blinks, still smiling. There are no underlying issues to address here, no siree! She is toootally not getting desperate for freedom, nope nope nope.

Everything is ab~so~lute~ly~ perfect! ]

Just curious~

Comments

[worldtamer]

You don't look fine... do you need help? I could come over and help clean up or something, if you want...

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Hmm. [ She halfheartedly pulls at her hair bow, since it's starting to droop into her peripheral vision. Is that what's making her seem off? Monika shrugs and lets it plop back down. ] I guess I don't look my best today!

Oh, um. Ahaha! You wouldn't find me, so don't worry yourself over that!

[worldtamer]

Oh... um, well okay, if you're sure...

[Niko certainly isn't about her truly being okay, but they will let it be for now.]

Why are you looking for a robot here? Do you like them?

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[ There's a slightly suspicious silence. ]

Just trying to broaden my horizons! I never had anything as cool as smart, autonomous robots back home, so I'd love to meet some! Hmm, but then again, I guess that would've changed the genre a bit...

[ Knowing her luck, though, a damn robot would probably still get more attention than she did. Ugh. ]

[worldtamer]

Oh, okay! I don't know about the robots here, but I met some back in that other world I was in before I came here! They were all very nice, and definitely really smart!

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Oooh, you're so lucky!

[ She feels like a good story. So she gets comfortable, resting her chin on her hands. ] Did you live in, like, some really cool future world with teleportation and stuff?

[worldtamer]

Oh gosh, no, nothing like that! My town was pretty ordinary by comparison: it was small, and people would often go out to work in the fields to gather wheat and stuff to bring back to the town. Even I sometimes went out to help the adults with that, since I'm a big kid now.

[Or at least, Niko was one of the older ones in the village.]

... But then one day, I woke up in this strange new place that wasn't like home at all. It was really big, and very dark. Someone told me that it was because the sun died, and that the reason I was there was because I had been "chosen" to find and deliver a new sun to replace the one that burned out.

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[ What the... ]

H-How--how's that even possible? Did you, like, just chuck a new sun up into the sky and suddenly things were all good again?

[ She was not expecting this from someone so cute! ]

[worldtamer]

No, um... there was this giant lightbulb-looking object that I found when I first woke up, and everyone said that it was the new sun. I just had to take it to the tallest tower and replace the old one there with it.

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[ She frowns. ] And you never once wondered if you really had to do this? Like, did you have a choice in the matter?

[worldtamer]

Well... I wanted to help them, and it seemed like it would be the only way to go back home again. Plus, I wasn't alone: being there gave me a friend that watched over me and made sure I was kept save.

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[ ...And she thought her game had issues. ]

You make it sound like Jesus was helping you through some journey to enlightenment. Only the enlightenment was an actual light.

[worldtamer]

It's the God of that world, to be more exact. But yeah, I guess so? Though I wonder what it means for that world now that we're here instead.

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[ She makes a face. Is this kid Moses? ]

That sounds creepy. [ She says, as if she weren't constantly aware of everything around her at home. ] Makes you wonder if they were so powerful why they wouldn't do it all for you, though.

[worldtamer]

Um... someone said that they couldn't directly interfere with the world, but a chosen one could hear them and do what needed to be done. And that chosen one was me, I guess.

But now... well, now we're here, and I'm not sure what it is I should do before I can go home and see my Mama again.

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[ Monika frowns this time. There's a little pang of pity in her heart. People losing control of a situation by no fault of their own always earned her sympathy.

Her lips press together for a moment as she thinks something over. ]

I...kinda know how you feel. In a weird way.

[worldtamer]

[Well, that certainly gets Niko's attention.]

You do?

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[ She nods and looks away, smiling sadly. ]

I didn't have a say in matters at home, either. Every possibility was already decided for me.

[worldtamer]

Really? How so?

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[ Monika locks things down as strongly as she can. If Monokuma can break through this, she'll be impressed.

With an exhale, she returns her gaze to the screen. ]

I was stuck in a game. Not a metaphorical one. An actual game.

[ Sometimes it was easy to laugh about it. Sometimes it made her not want to exist. What a sick, sad world she lived in. ]

And I was the only one who knew that.

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[worldtamer]

A... game? How? And why?

[There's a strange sort of tickling in the back of Niko's mind. As if this should be familiar to them somehow... or at least, to someone they know here...]

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[ She lets out a humorless laugh and glances away. ] Because a certain someone I know has a twisted sense of humor.

[ Curse you, Dan Salvato. ]

I'm a... [ What did Legion call her again? Because she liked it a lot more than "computer program." ] A synthetic. Guess my main purpose was entertainment. Haha.

[ Monika mutters darkly to herself for a moment then looks back. ] At least I'm feeling a lot less alone here, in a weird sort of way.

[worldtamer]

[Niko frowns a little, slowly putting two and two together as they bring their face closer to their device here.]

Does that mean you're... inside of this thing? Like, literally?

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[ There's a suspiciously long silence before she bursts into laughter. ]

No way! I was lucky in that regard, thank God. How lame would that be, right?

[ Her laughter fades, but not the stabbing pain of utter defeat in her heart. Melodramatic, maybe, but she figures she's allowed it. ]

[worldtamer]

Oh... good!

[Niko is like, 8, okay.]

But um... if you were inside of a game, were you able to talk to the people that played it?