Chapter 19: ~Chapter 6~ Part 4

"Bon appétit, I suppose," I said to myself as I took the lid off the lunchbox. The fragrance of home-cooked food instantly filled my nostrils, and to my surprise, I found that the meal inside was still warm. The box must have been insulated.

Thankfully the stuff inside was chunky. Fried chicken breasts, fries, some kind of sauce plus a handful of sandwiches; all of them things I could eat with my bare hands. Sure, the lunchbox came with a set of utensils, but eating with those would have felt like a major breach of privacy. Not that snatching away one's lunchbox was much better, but in my defense, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I sighed and the sound of my breath was carried away by a light breeze. The rooftop was unusually empty... though I couldn't even be sure of that, as I have only been up there once during lunch break. Once I left the classroom, this seemed to be the obvious place to have lunch, but it wasn't the only reason why I decided to come here.

Following my previous ponderings about my choice of an independent observer, I decided to leave it up to fate, or rather random chance. I picked the bench facing the entrance to the roof and decided that the first guy from my class to come through that door would be my primary candidate. It sounded fine in principle, too bad it didn't bear fruit.

To put it bluntly, I was all alone. Not a soul came to eat here yet, and though lunch break was far from over, not seeing anyone was a little unnerving.

"Oh well." I reached inside the box and popped a chicken breast nugget into my mouth. It was actually really good. Not really on par with yesterday's lasagna, but it was still a very fine meal. The vivid red sauce that I had first mistaken for ketchup also turned out to be something much spicier, yet tastier, than expected.

Immersed in eating, I almost didn't notice when the door opened. I immediately put the piece of fried potato I had in my hand (which was also covered in some blend of spices that made it way more awesome than it had any right to be) back into the box and focused on the newcomer. Regrettably, it was a bit of a letdown. It was a girl.

With a weary sigh, I returned to my meal. I was just about to unwrap one of the sandwiches packed neatly in a smaller compartment to find out what kind of shockers those had in wait when a shadow fell over me. I glanced up and found the girl from before standing right in front of me and staring.

I blinked and was about to awkwardly greet her when I noticed her fixed stare wasn't really on me but the place where I was sitting. I tried shifting a little, and as I thought, she didn't follow me with her eyes.

"Do you... want to sit here?"

She didn't react for several seconds. When I was just about to speak up again though, she nodded. Without any further ado, I slid to the other end of the bench and she immediately sat down, seemingly completely forgetting about my presence. She was a placeholder so I didn't expect much, but still...

I watched her unpack her bag and take out a large ham sandwich. She was... well, like other placeholders. She was short, though at this point I was starting to feel that everyone was short compared to me. She was pretty in the same, generic way as all other placeholders; slim but well-proportioned, a symmetric face, a simple shoulder-length cut of straight black hair. No makeup, no accessories.

What really captivated my attention was her grace. She was mechanical. Efficient. She acted without wasted movement, yet she didn't seem rigid at all. She unpacked her sandwich, grabbed it with both hands like you would see in a commercial... and suddenly took a gigantic chomp out of it.

It took all my self-discipline not to laugh out loud at the unexpected sight, but some snickers still escaped my mouth and drew the girl's gaze. When she turned her face to me, her cheeks were so stuffed she looked like a hamster. That was the last straw; I burst out in uncontrollable laughter and I almost knocked over my half-eaten lunchbox in the process.

I was laughing for a good minute, but the girl didn't seem to mind. She kept chewing absently, not even a little bit perturbed by my display at her side. At last, she gulped loudly and her cheeks returned to their normal state. She kept looking at me for a few seconds longer before she faced forwards again, mechanically raised the sandwich to her mouth, and repeated the process from the beginning.

For some reason I couldn't look away. It felt like I was in some kind of nature documentary. Here we can see the wild placeholder in her natural habitat, quickly consuming her food before a predator could find her.

The seconds turned into minutes, and before I knew it she had already finished her sandwich. For some reason that made me disappointed. I was just about to leave it at that when I noticed that she was still staring at me. Furthermore, she seemed to be... questioning me?

I froze up. 'Oh, crap', I thought. I should've expected this. Placeholder or not, staring at a girl for that long was obviously weird.

"Um... Hi?"

"Hello." Her voice was flat but somehow it still felt very nice, even if a little deeper than I would have expected.

There didn't seem to be any further development after this exchange, yet she kept looking at me like she was expecting something from me. For the first time since I woke up, I felt completely lost for words and awkward.

"So... um... How was your sandwich?"

She absently looked at the empty wrapper in her hands.

"It was okay, I think."

I couldn't help but be amazed. Not just because a placeholder actually gave me a proper answer without the expected blank stare, but I had to realize that her voice wasn't just nice, but downright pleasant. It had a sort of warm softness to it that I had a hard time describing without going into superlatives. Needless to say, making such observations in this situation only made me feel more awkward.

"Really? I thought so..."

We once again fell silent and I really wanted to pound myself on the forehead. That was a riveting conversation, idiot. And to make things even worse, she kept staring at me. For a moment I even thought it was her way of getting back at me for staring at her, but then again, could placeholders even hold grudges?

I paused. The question actually hit me harder than it had any right to. Can they? Exactly how independent are they? Can they develop? I was so focused on my circle and the setting that I completely forgot about these kinds of questions. This right here was the reason I needed another observer.

I should find these things out... and I had the perfect opportunity on my hands. Just to make sure, I glanced around the rooftop and couldn't see anyone else. I stopped and weighed my options.

On one hand, I had already decided to leave things up to chance, so grabbing this one (not literally, of course) was in a way appropriate. While she only hit one point of my criteria, being a placeholder, one wasn't supposed to look the gift horse in the mouth.

On the other hand... well, she only hit one point of my criteria. Not to mention, she was weird. By placeholder standards, I mean. Would that pose a problem to my observations?

After some further painful vacillation, I finally shrugged and decided to throw caution in the wind. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If things didn't work out I could still pick a guy after this. So, with that determination in mind, I met her eyes, took a breath, and made sure to ask her in a very natural—

"Hey there, I think we are living in a fake world, would you like to help me uncover its mechanics?"

I paused for a second and then hit myself on the forehead. What the hell, brain?! Just... what the bloody hell?!

The girl, on the other hand, didn't seem to be fazed either by my question or by my actions afterward. In fact, she seemed to be seriously considering my question. The silence was very loud for a while before she finally nodded with the same, empty yet serious expression.

"... Sure."

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?"

"Sure, I'll help."

"So I heard it right..." I mumbled in mild astonishment. "How did that even...? Did I just hit a hidden flag or something?"

To my further surprise, the girl looked around attentively and told me, "No, I don't see any flags."

She sounded so serious it almost made me laugh out loud.

"No no. It's not that kind of flag. It's a colloquialism." She was still giving me an uncomprehending look, so I explained, "How should I put this...? You see, in games where you have choices, sometimes you can change the flow of the scenario by picking certain ones. It is called 'setting a flag' when you pick a choice that leads to a branch in the scenario."

"Why flags?"

"That... That's actually a very good question," I answered, somewhat impressed. "It has to do with programming. You see, variables in these games are called flags, so..."

And so on and so forth. She asked, I answered, and before I knew it I was completely wrapped up in the conversation. We (or rather I) talked about event flags, arcs, branching story structures, mediums and genres that use them, and so on and so forth. What's more, my interest in the girl grew with every passing minute.

Sure, she didn't show much emotion (or any, if I was honest), and she only asked short, concise questions, but they were always on the mark, and by the look in her eyes I could see that she really tried to understand everything I was telling her. Before long I found my inhibitions breaking down and began dropping hints towards my actual hypotheses.

"So, let's imagine that we were living in a world where such things applied," I began, and she obediently nodded. "So, in such a world, anything could be a flag."

"Anything?"

"Yup. Who you talk to, what you say to them, even what you ate for breakfast."

"Like real life."

"Not quite!" I raised a finger, and she followed it with her eyes. On a whim, I moved it around a bit and she still kept following it like a cat chasing the laser pointer, and with a deadly serious expression to boot. Once I got my share of amusement out of that, I continued. "So, as I was saying, the difference is that there are rules. Shorthands. Conventions. A world like that would follow things like that."

"Such as?"

"Lots of things. Personality archetypes, common events, entirely scenarios, you name it. However, and herein lies the main difference from ordinary reality: these tropes wouldn't stand on their own. They come in different sets and shapes depending on the genre and situation. Once you grasp that, you can begin to unravel everything and figure out what makes the world tick."

"You want to do that?"

"Errr..." Well, here came the plunge. I steeled myself and nodded. "Yes. I believe this is how this world works, and I would like to ask you to help me figure it out."

"Sure."

Her answer was so immediate that it took me a moment to register. "Okay... Welcome aboard... I think."

It was final then. It was both relieving and disappointing in a way. I expected it would take more convincing, or I would have to prove it to her somehow, yet this girl... this... girl...

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'Holy crap' I though. I didn't even know her name. I asked her, dragged her in, and I didn't even ask her name! What the hell was wrong with me today?!

Not only that, just then I realized that lunch break was almost over and that I still had half my lunch left.

"Oh, crap..." I murmured as I opened the box again.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that..." Just then I noticed that she was looking at the sandwiches and an idea came to me. "Want some?"

She looked at the sandwiches some more, then at me

"Payment?"

"Erm... If you want to take it that way...?"

Before I even finished my line she already reached into the box and took one of the bundles. She unwrapped it, raised it to her mouth, and took a large bite. Then she noticed my inquisitive look and turned back to me.

"Mhmmhf fmmmfh."

"Please swallow before you speak," I reprimanded her, and she began chewing in a hurry and once again swallowed everything with one large, loud gulp.

"Delicious. Payment accepted."

"You are... welcome?"

We spent the rest of the lunch break finishing off the lunchbox. The sandwiches, as it turned out, were only filled with a generous amount of chocolate cream, but somehow they still felt as high-quality as the rest. Once we were done we wordlessly cleaned up after ourselves and left the empty rooftop.

It was only when we separated at the feet of the stairs when I realize I still didn't ask for her name. I silently cursed under my breath as I turned to dash after her, but by then she disappeared from the corridor. I clicked my tongue and checked the time. I didn't even ask which class she attended! How was I supposed to find her?! I groaned and headed back to my classroom with weary steps.

When I arrived I found Angie and the class rep talking by the latter's desk, Josh lazing by mine, and the princess sprawled over her own with an exhausted expression.

"What happened?" I asked my friend as I sat down.

"You missed a huge show, that's what." Seeing the incomprehension on my face, Josh smiled wryly and handed me back my wallet. "You see, we went to the cafeteria, and when Elly learned that you would be paying, she went on a spree!"

"Go figure," I told him as I sat down and checked the content of my wallet. "Not that much is missing though?"

Josh gave me a withering look.

"Only you can say that three hundred Jen for a single meal is ‘not much'."

I ignored the comment and glanced over at the princess.

"Is that why she looks so worn out?"

"Yep. She ate a full course, an entire turkey, and a huge parfait just to dent your wallet."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said so. Also that she hates you, that you are a meddler, and that you smell bad."

"Yeah, she says that a lot," I told Josh absent-mindedly as I poked her in the back. She looked up at me and immediately twitched.

"You! When did you come back?!"

"I've been here for a good five minutes by now," I answered amicably, then paused. "You look really out of it."

"W-Why do you care?"

"Binge eating like that is bad for your stomach and it can lead to a bunch of nasty problems. You really shouldn't do that." I paused again as I took a look at the rings under her eyes. "You really look bad. Are you all right?"

"S-Shudup!" She slurred while trying to dodge the hand I extended to check her temperature. "Leave me alone! I don't need your care!"

"Whatever you say," I relented and then placed the empty lunchbox onto the desk. "By the way, thank you for the food."

"Oh..." In a shocking display, the princess completely calmed down as she stared at the empty box. "How was it?"

"Hm?" I was momentarily perplexed by her sudden change of gears. "It was delicious. I especially liked the sauce."

"Oh, that's an original recipe of mine," she stated in the company of a proud and borderline charming smirk. In fact, forget about the borderline part. When she wasn't beet red from embarrassment or glaring at me, she was pretty cute.

I almost  gave her my thanks for the food, but before I could say so, I noticed a small discrepancy and instead I asked, "Wait, you made that?"

"Yes."

"I thought you had a cook."

"Yes..."

"So you have a cook, but you packed a homecooked meal because...?"

"It wasn't for you!" She protested loudly, at which I could only shake my head.

"Of course it wasn't for me, it was for him."

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean..." With a frustrated growl, the princess tried to stomp her bad foot and winced, followed up by an angry, "Argh! I hate you!"

And with that, she buried her head in her arms and fell over her desk again. I looked over at Josh. His face simply read ‘Girls are weird.' Mine answered ‘They sure are.'

Just then the sliding door opened, but instead of the teacher, a girl entered. For a moment I could only gawk at her as she walked in and sat down on the other end of the classroom. It was her! The girl from the roof!

"Josh?"

"Yeah?" My friend looked up at me from rummaging through his bag.

"Who's that girl?"

He followed my eyes and apparently had to think for a few seconds.

"That's... Judy. Why? Did you remember her or something?"

"Nah, it's not that."

"Then what?"

I stared at the girl, and after a few short seconds she looked my way and gave me a small nod. I couldn't help but grin as I looked over at my friend.

"Hey, Josh? Two out of three is pretty good, right?"

"I... don't follow. What do you mean?"

I paused for a moment and then shook my head.

"Nothing. It's complicated."

I sat back in my chair, still grinning, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see an expression on Josh's face that declared that girls weren't the only weird thing in the room...

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