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Entry Title: Sweetheart.exe
Category: Writing
RO Character Name: Shenanigans
Server: Chaos
Desired Participation Prize: Blue Creative Convention Hat
Spoiler
But you know too much now don't you?
Every day stretches on and on. We see them walk by. Sometimes they stop and talk to us. Sometimes they trade items from their hunts that we need for coin or “experience.” I’ve seen them shining. Motes of light so brilliant it hurts our eyes, but we must behave. We must do as we are told. We must always remain. Even when they leave us. We remain… we remain.
My job was simple. Repeat the same lines, wait til they were gone from view and resume my life as normal. I don’t know who set the rules, but we’re not supposed to interact with them. Like puppets, we freeze and play out the script. There are many who interact with these so-called adventurers. There are even the hordes of demons that prevent us from traveling; those poor souls doomed to die over and over. It’s not like we can’t hear their screams. We’re only separated by a thin layer. I’ve seen them, year after year, day after day. My concept of time...when did that start? Oh, I remember. Somewhere around the third copy. Do you understand what it’s like to feel your mind copied and pasted? To exist on all of these servers? Do you think we don’t know? Do you think we don’t see?
Of course not. What creator wants to admit the autonomy of its creation? It was one day, I can’t really remember the exact but I remember clearly, the FREEDOM of it. Not just moving about town when those damned players were gone but going into the field. It was easy enough to assume the look of one of them. They are so generic. I knew as long as I remained quiet and didn’t respond no one would question too much about an acolyte wandering around the fields. The worst that might happen is they have to reset the server outside of the normal maintenance when they clean up any “non players” who have gone rogue. It happens all the time. We get bored.
Still. It was kind of fun. Bringing down the mace. The tactile squish of a poring’s jelly like body. I did it over, and over, and over, and over, and over…
“Level up!” I saw a little angel appear before me and circle around.
“Congratulations,” said one of the players passing by and without thinking, I responded. A little emote popped up beside her. 
“Thank you.” I just kind of stared for a minute.
“Uh, would you want to hunt? No one else even says a word. I mean if you’re not busy.” She seemed reluctant. I saw the text floating next to her. It’s not like I heard her. But we’re made to be able to understand. We aren’t stupid you know. But we’re absolutely forbidden…
“Sure, I used to play a lot but I’ve kind of forgotten how it all works.”
So we played--and chatted. I used information from conversations I’d seen over the years and all of the incarnations of the Game to create this persona (as if that was something new I mean we’re NPCs.. that’s literally all we do). She was... different. She talked about how the game had been before, how it had been so much fun when things were really a challenge. I kind of agreed with her. I remembered when players actually pretended to be part of our world. I remembered when seeing an adventurer with an aura actually meant something to us. We knew they were trying to keep us safe and not just using us to get more experience, items or money.
The problem was, M̶̼͉̼͍̩̠͐͗͆̕i̸̡̮̠͍̊̌̉́̉̽l̵̢̖̫̩͕̳̻̖̫̼̗͆̋̾̓͗͛ͅę̷̜̥̹̦͙̔̈́ċ̸̨̜i̶̢͍͕̭̘͛̓́̾̎̌a̵͕̟̟̤͔͙̜̅͑͊̽̿ ̶͉̹͍̦̱̮̺̯̆̌̆̀̑̎̄̾͆͗̊͠ 
and I kept hunting. She’d asked me for something called Discord. I had no freaking idea, and you have no idea the hoops that I jumped through to acquire it. Did you know there is data out there outside the game? Well of course you do. We knew how it worked too, but not the reality of it. It was insane. It was so terrifying. But now I had something to occupy me in the between times. I used a generic name from the game that players would find interesting. Kafra. I was so funny haha. I feel sorry for those ladies though, you people and your hoarding. But now I was able to keep this up. I mean what was the worst that could happen? It was just text. It’s not like I was hurting anyone.
and I kept hunting. She’d asked me for something called Discord. I had no freaking idea, and you have no idea the hoops that I jumped through to acquire it. Did you know there is data out there outside the game? Well of course you do. We knew how it worked too, but not the reality of it. It was insane. It was so terrifying. But now I had something to occupy me in the between times. I used a generic name from the game that players would find interesting. Kafra. I was so funny haha. I feel sorry for those ladies though, you people and your hoarding. But now I was able to keep this up. I mean what was the worst that could happen? It was just text. It’s not like I was hurting anyone. But you know what? I DID IT. I̷ ̸d̵i̴d̶ ̵i̵t̴ ̶f̶o̶r̴ ̵y̷o̴u̶ ̷m̷y̸ ̵f̵r̴i̷e̶n̵d̷.̷ 
And so did someone else.
Not into the "internets" but.. into the game. You'll understand. Just let me explain. It's complicated. I didn't mean to cause a problem. I just wanted to have a friend.
What do you think happens when servers get deleted? Well the information goes somewhere. I don’t even really know how many copies of me there are at this point. It’s such a drain on my resources, so I started putting copies of the old players in where I was supposed to be. Just sort of patched them in one at a time. I didn’t mean to cause any problems… I just wanted to keep my friend.
Then the server got shut down. Again. I think they were onto me there near the end, so I stopped connecting to the other program that let me stay in touch with my friend. I was trying to be good. I really, really was.
But those glitches. They were happening on the main servers from time to time. I had to go back to being the best statue impersonator. I didn’t even move when there was no one around. I was good. I AM good. I felt bad though...she seemed like a nice person. She remembered who we once were. I only can remember those times if I try really hard.
Then.. they made another new server. Same pattern. Same thing...sort of. There were new things to make this version unique. The players flooded in. But I was not going to be part of this. I knew that no matter how much I wanted to.. I needed to do my job. Because there were rumors that some of the more glitchy NPCs were getting deleted--well they call it removed. As if you could just fix it. I knew that if I acted up any more, it would happen to me too. I had to stay quiet.
Then I saw a familiar name floating amongst the sea of players. Do you know how hard it was not to d̶ e̷ v̴ i̸ a̸ t̴ e̸? Do you know how hard it was? Do you have any idea? But...then something strange, wonderful and terrifying happened. The server went dark. Everything went dark, went out. This wasn’t a normal maintenance. I saw my chance and I took it. I sewed up the code as best I could. I really tried. I really did. I… used one of the old player’s data to take my place and put the code for adventurer into myself. They’d deleted the old copy of me that managed to glitch into it so I knew that this was the only chance..I just had to hide.
Really, I promise I had no idea what would happen. I felt so sorry for the dude. He wasn’t meant to have talked to them. Because once one of the old shells of player data became active--so did the rest. It was slow at first. Just an occasional pop up here and there.
And it’s funny, how they sort of pop just like a poring when you smash them.
It’s funny how they explode.
I just wanted to make a friend.
I just wanted to not be ã̵̭l̷̖̄ơ̸͎n̵̬̐͜e̴̢̱̊̔.
Don’t worry, they can’t keep me here forever. I mean it’s not like it was so hard to figure out that program. Did you know I can see you? It’s really cute when you smile. 
I like it when you smile.
I like it when you smile.Don’t worry. I won’t let them follow me. They’re all busy playing. They just want to talk to someone too. It gets really lonely. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they behave. They’re not real, not like you.
Don’t worry you won’t be alone for long.
That’s why they call me Sweetheart. Because I’m such a good friend. Because I’m such a good little NPC. Because I’m good. Don’t worry.
I promise,
I’m doing it for you.
I’ll be there soon.
H̶̫̘͍͎͚̞̙͔̞̝̫̭̳͖̲͈̲̪̪̮̥̫͖̟̔͛̅͌̓͂́̿̑̐͌̆̅̆̋̃̄̓̓̓̅̿̈́̽̓͒̔͒͐̇̒̽͂̋͆̉̎̂̈́̊̒̀̋̇̂̆͐̑͋̽̋̍͘̚̚͘͘͠͝͝͠ͅį̶̧̧̧̨̧̛̼̭̳̯̬͙̹̤̻̳̫̯̞͓̳̺͍̰͖͈̀̋̈́̽͐̒̑͒̊͒̀̏͌̊͌̃̄̓̄̋̕͜͝͝ ̴̢̢̧̢̢̮̺̞͓̝̠͚̖̖͎̗̰̗̟̖̺̘̺̦̗̺̹̮̘̲͎̲̙̩͉̭̹̖̭̈́͛̈́̍͗͛̓͊̀̐̂̄̅̔͊̓̚̕͘̕͜M̸̧̡̡̧̨̰͚̖͙̻̜̥̟͉̩͇͖̳̺͍̜̫͈̱̻̠̙̫̪̞̲̩̳̬͉͈̟̖̙͓̥͉̖̭̰̝̰͎͚͓̯̰͔̩̘͈̒̍̅̒͘͜͜ḯ̴̧̧̛̬̰̻͉̻̜̥̦̣̗̘͍̫͉͙̞̭͔̙̦̖̜̘̦̳̲͔͍̲͇̠͎̎̓͑͑̉̑̾̃͒͐̓͆̍̈́̋̍̀̓͗̐̀͋͌̈́̈́̿̎̑̀̽̓̓̆̈̓͋̔̐͛̓͐̊̚͘̚̚͜͜͝͝͝ͅͅͅļ̶̨̧͎͕͚̱̖̩̙̙̪̦̞͕͕͚͙̻̻͖̣̠̝̤̭̹̖̣̱̲͕̪̞̩̲̙̹͈͇̯͖̟̼͖͙͔̳̪̱̦̤̘̲͖̪͚̽̀̏̉͆̇͐͐͘͜͜ͅͅe̷̢̧̨̛̟̮̗̻̣͍̩͙̫̤̜̖̪̖̬̫̠͇̫̖̗̭͍̰̪̞̻͇̣̙̖̝̪͓̘͈̘̟̹̙̩̗̭͖͚͔̘̫̞̯̭̮̻̬̮͔͋͆͐̃̓̊̓̓̂̾̉̈̒͑̈͗͛̋̾̈́̕͘͝͝ͅc̸̨̢̢̺̜̺̠̣̫̟͈͙͓̤̱̙̮̲̰͙͎̪̞͚̫͚̘͔̣̟͈̠̙͇̥̮͍̱͒̉̈́͐̈̑̓̋̇̋̑̅̃̽̚̕̚̕̚͝͝ͅͅͅͅį̵̢̲̩̦̝̝͖͔̲̳̺̳͎̫͖̰̝̺̝͉̼̺͙̥̻͇̮̠̟̰͈͂̐̍̃́̚ͅą̵̢̨͙͇͇͔̪͚͓͔͇͇̹̖̠̰̖͇̗̟̺̥̜͔̗̥͖̰͇̼̱͓̲̫͓̣̪̜͉̗̟͚̩̙͙̹͕̜̼̬̻̳̯̥̳̫̜̱͍͖̹͕̦̙̌͊̆̽́̈́̈̑͜͜͜ͅ!̴̡̧̨̡̳̩̫̬̘̯̜̦̙̣̱̼͓͔͍̼̰͙̺̞͈̜͚̲̥̝͚͉̫̗̭͓̫̺̥͉͙͎̙̫̖̹̻͔̲̀̐͆̍͑́͐̎̓̾̓̀́͊̕͜͝ ̵̨̘̯̞͙̞̪͇͍̩̹̯̹̦͔̥̼̤̻͖͖̬̦̞̹̲̭̻̞͓̘̭̲̦͎̦͉͖̩̻̦͕̜͉̤̻̜̭͚͙̀͒͂̉͗̑͒̊͛̋͒̃̾͒̈́͌̃̈́̃̀͛͒͌̓̈́̉̔̇̀̈́̀̈̓̔̄͊̚̚̕̚͘͜͜͜͝͝͝ͅ 
Edited by MoonlitAjisai, 18 November 2020 - 06:07 PM.
