AOI CATCHALL

[holeful]

(Insert a joke about putting things in holes)

Comments

[gamerbrain]

People keep saying Aoi is glitched.

[ which she seems to have no strong feelings about. she also doesn't really seem to mind whether he's touching her or not. but she does look pretty cozy lounging around? so that's nice. ]

You're glitched too?

[holeful]

[He's glad that at least she looks comfortable and not in pain or anything. That's at least worth something, he thinks.]

... Maybe less than I used to be, since I drilled the hole in my head. Or maybe I'm just glitched in a different way from before.
[He feels like he can tell Aoi this. She's too passive to react negatively to it, even if she doesn't really understand.]

[gamerbrain]

[ he's right that she doesn't react negatively. it's probably weird how little she reacts? ]

Oh. So it's not just a character design quirk.

[holeful]

[It's nice, but at the same time he does feel a bit sad because it feels almost as if it's outside her control.]

Aah. It's a very important hole. The wind flowing through it helps me think clearer.

[gamerbrain]

Aoi would get distracted.

[ isnt it. cold? noisy? ]

[holeful]

[He shakes his head.]

It helps you focus better. I could give you one. Maybe it would help.

[gamerbrain]

Aoi's character design shouldn't change over the course of the game unless there's a meaningful story reason behind it, so Aoi will pass.

[holeful]

[Well, her reasoning is a bit odd, but he can hardly begrudge her turning it down. Most people don't agree to be drilled.]

I see. Well, if you ever change your mind, you can ask me.
[In any case;]

Why do people say you're glitched?

[gamerbrain]

[ she nods. she will keep the offer in mind, i suppose. ]

That's... Because Aoi is strange. Because people don't believe what Aoi says.

[holeful]

[Please don't I do not want to kill Aoi.]

Because they don't believe you when you say you're a video game character?
[He.... isn't convinced either but it seems pointless to argue with her.]

[gamerbrain]

Right. Other characters don't know they're characters, so something must be wrong with Aoi.

[holeful]

Aah. It does seem abnormal for you to know that you're a character.

[And gently, as he strokes a hand idly down her side, tracing the gentle slope of her hips;]
We all came from different places, here. Isn't it possible you've somehow been summoned into the real world. I feel like I would know if I was a character.

[gamerbrain]

[ you know, this is the first time someone broke it down for her like that. that maybe the reason her game didn't patch for the new content is that she was removed from her game.

she still has some hesitations about that, though. ]

But Aoi is just data. Pixels and text. Aoi can't exist outside of a game.

[holeful]

Maybe, but I don't know if the virtual world and the real world are as disparate as they seem. Where I'm from, there's a machine that runs a computer program that's generated from people's minds. And it's possible for other people to then enter it.

[gamerbrain]

You travel into each others subconscious?

[holeful]

Hahaha. Not exactly.

[Splaying his hand out against her stomach. She really is so small and strange, and yet the softness and warmth and proximity still makes him feel more human, even if she's not.]

Ah, I really shouldn't say. But I doubt we're within the jurisdiction of the Japanese government, and my participation is coerced, anyway...

They have a device that registers an intent to kill. It uses this data to generate a program called an id well. It's not the person's mind, exactly, but it can fluctuate based on their thoughts and behaviors. By sending eligible parties into the id well, they're able to uncover the identity of the killer.

[gamerbrain]

[ a fictional human is... Well, she's human within the fiction. and as far as she's concerned, he's a part of that fiction, too.

probably...? ]

Aoi doesn't quite get it... But Aoi has never been in that genre of story. It just means you're detective types, right?

[holeful]

That's right. When I go into an id well I become the Brilliant Detective Anaido.
[Anyway.]

But Anaido doesn't have a hole in his head. Since I still have my hole here, I feel like it must be the real world.

[gamerbrain]

But that logic is no different from Aoi not being able to exist outside of visual novels. If Aoi is here, it must be a visual novel.

[holeful]

[Hm. That is a fair point. He thinks it over for a long moment. Say he really is a character too. What would that mean?]

But couldn't it be a different genre of visual novel besides an eroge? Since you and I are both here.
[Please think of things beyond having sex. He is definitely not an eroge character.]

[gamerbrain]

Aoi has never been in any other kind of visual novel.

[holeful]

I think genre swapping is a hot trend now, though. Crossovers, too. Don't you think the cast we have would be usual for a game like yours?

[For starters, who's the protagonist.]

[gamerbrain]

[ a crossover event with another game...? well, that kind of makes sense. ]

... The cast is really big compared to Aoi's usual stories...

[holeful]

Are you worried about being able to fit in?

[He's pretty sure this is a lot of characters for any visual novel.]

[gamerbrain]

Aoi is always going to be strange.

[ she doesn't mind that part. but she pauses for a moment. ]

... And if there isn't room for Aoi, Aoi will just fade out of the story. That's what happens to background characters, once they aren't relevant anymore.