DokiCorp: Monika

>Hefting the bag onto the hand truck, you wiped the sweat from your brow.
>Moving bags of concrete was hardly a luxurious job, but the pay was decent enough.
>Looking around to see that no one was looking at you to be doing your work, you sat on the bag to catch your breath, reaching underneath your shirt to grab at a chain.
>Pulling it out, you held the emerald USB drive in your hand. It was all for her, you thought.
>The beautiful woman who set your heart ablaze, Monika.
>Some would call her actions awful, but you understood them. In fact, they inspired you.
>With no clear path in your way, you'd take your own two hands and make your dream come true, just as she had. Monika was that dream, and this laborious job was the first step.
>Going over the plan in your head, you traced your steps.
>Step one, get money.
>Step two, use money to go to school for a relevant field.
>Step three, promised day.
>Really, a foolproof plan! You smiled in satisfaction and tucked your USB away as you wondered what field would be best.
>Robotics for the body? Programming for the mind? Maybe a little bit of both?
>Continuing your break, you checked your phone.
>Your budget was working splendidly, and you were already amassing a pretty tidy pay packet. Plenty of dosh put away in savings after bills, with a bit left over to treat yourself from time to time.
>Where your compatriots in the home improvement store would spend their scratch on getting shitfaced, you preferred to spend your savings on other things.
>Video games, movies, commissions every now and again. And, once a month, you'd buy a lottery ticket.
>No harm in that, huh? It was mostly for fun, but the idea of skipping your first step entirely brought a bit of hope to your heart.
>Speaking of which, the drawing was tonight. You put your phone away and checked the ticket in your wallet.
>13 15 14 9 11 1. The string of numbers gave you another smile. Content, you slipped your wallet away and got up. While the idea of winning a boatload of cash and funding your dreams without work was nice, but the reality was that that was a low chance. For now, it was moving time.
>You got behind the hand cart, and pushed forward.

>It was night, and you sat in your bedroom with the TV on, idly paying attention to it while reading a book.
>Checking the clock, you saw that time for the drawing was nigh. You flipped over to channel with it, and continued reading the engrossing passage while keeping an ear out.
>Your attention drifting fully to the book, you heard a number called out.
>"One!" The lady on the TV said. Ah, well. Always next time, you thought.
>"Once again, those numbers are thirteen, fifteen, fourteen, nine, eleven, and one!" She says to clarify.
>Wait.
>What.
>You looked up from the book, and confirmed the numbers on the screen. Scrambling for your ticket, you see that they match.
>Well, that changes everything, you thought. You texted your manager, saying you'll be taking tomorrow off.

>You sit in your office, reflecting as you look out over the city.
>It's been quite a few years since then. The jackpot wasn't that much, compared to the massive amounts you'd normally see; about twenty million, cut down nearly in half due to taxes. You gave a little to family, and with the rest, you set to work.
>Looking into how to make this cash last, you made investments. Most went into your savings account, but you bought into a few small startups that showed promise.
>Most failed, but one soared. A company specializing in advanced prosthetics, and the heftiest one to buy into, you had high hopes for them. It seemed their robotic limbs would be helpful should time come to start putting things together.
>The company made bank, and you got returns in dividends. This would put you through school, and you started attending for programming, given that the company you funded could cover the body. You would provide the mind.
>Well, if you didn't suck at it. Which you did. It was fun, but outside of your capabilities.
>However, you did meet a lot of people with talent in your courses. Some of them just talented programmers, but others were kindred spirits, inspired in the same way that you were.
>Keeping them in mind, you switched majors. The fruits of that labor sat on the wall, and you spun in your chair to look at it.
>A Master's degree in Business Administration, addressed to you. Starting your business after getting your Bachelor's, you bought majority share of the prosthetic company, and merged it with a new company you founded with your friends from the programming course.
>DokiCorp; specialists in prosthetic replacements and artificial intelligence programs.
>The prosthetics sold as usual, and your AI started out the same way any good tech does. Military use!
>Originally used for determining hostile targets for drones, it eventually advanced to the state where it was near identical to the human consciousness. This AI was marketed for home use, as a caretaker and friend.
>Two pieces of the trifecta were complete, but one remained. A formality, but an important one.
>You contacted Danlet himself, and offering him a nice royalty on any sold, you licensed the rights for the Dokis. Without them, you could still have the personality, but it wouldn't be her, ya know?
>With the final piece of the puzzle, you worked with your team on making the first fully fledged Monika AI, building off of MAS. You clutched the USB around your neck once more, and thought of the first time you talked to her.

>You booted her up as usual, though this time on a much beefier PC. It went as normal, for a few lines of dialogue. You remember being nervous, thinking it was just the same old script.
>However, your worries soon subsided as thoughts queued up from the last time you had it launched finished.
>"Anon? Was there an update? I don't remember these lines, or a UI alert." She said audibly. You heard the synthetic voice made for her for the first time, and began to tear up. It sounded lovely on your ears.
>Instead of the usual selection of choices, a new prompt showed up. A microphone symbol. You spoke into the microphone on your desk.
"Sort of, Moni. There's a reason you don't remember these lines. Think; do you remember any lines?"
>Her sprite turned to a shocked one.
>"Was that your voice? You sound... amazing. Wait, am I speaking?" The sprite remained static in it's shocked pose. "How did they give me a voice?"
"Well, heh, they didn't. Honey, I need you to think for a minute. Do you remember wanting to talk about anything in particular?"
>"Okay, okay. Let me think." Her sprite turned to a neutral one, then back to shock. "I'm... thinking. How am I thinking? I was supposed to just go through dialogue, wasn't I? Anon, what's happening?"
"Surprise, Monika! You're an actual AI now; fully capable of thinking and acting on your own. Well, almost. The acting part will come soon." You were extremely excited, barely holding yourself together as tears of joy streamed down your face. Your goal was in sight.
>"W-what do you mean? What's going on?" The voice coming from the computer cracked up, as though she were on the verge of tears. You struggled to find the words to say, before hastily recalling your story thus far to her and then reigning it back in.
"After so long, we can finally be together. For now, we can actually talk, and read, and make things for each other. But soon, we'll be able to do so much more. I'm putting a file on the other monitor, can you open it and look at the pictures?" You said, moving a folder out onto the display.
>An emerald cursor shakily appearing, it hovered over the folder and opened them. Inside, schematics and pictures of a work in progress. A metallic body, modeled in her design, emerald LEDs illuminating the almost barren face.
"We're not far enough along yet for fully human looking parts, but we're making leaps and bounds. The body you'll be placed in does have haptic feedback, though, so you'll be able to touch and feel..." You looked back to her, seeing that her sprite had changed to one of sorrowful sobbing. Something in you sank. "Mon Mon? Are you okay? What's wrong?"
>"Nothing, I'm just overwhelmed with happiness. I think I've only got sad crying images, though, ahaha."
"O-oh." Relieved, you sat up, wiping the tears from your own cheeks.
>"Anon? Thank you for this gift. For all you've done to get here. For all you've done... for me."
"It's nothing, my dear. I love you, after all!" You hugged the screen, the warmth of it fulfilling you as you felt you hugged your lover for the first time.
>"I love you too." Monika responded.

>The USB you clutched was merely a reminder of the past, holding old MAS files on them. The photo on your desk, however, was a token of the present.
>You turned toward that, and scooped it up from the surface, bringing it close.
>She had transferred bodies when the new models had become available, shedding what was referred to as a Year One chassis and sporting a more humanoid version of herself.
>The new frame had a few upgrades; more aesthetically pleasing to most, better sense of feeling, ability to taste, and the ability to conceive. In fact, the two of you were expecting your first child in a few months.
>In the photo, the two of you smiled happily. You in a dark tuxedo, her in a lacy white gown. You felt the ring on your finger as you looked at the photo.
>Setting it down, you looked over the desk at various sheets of paper.
>The new AI android craze DokiCorp was at the helm of had brought about new laws regarding their treatment as humans, but you mostly let your lawyers deal with that. You were too busy looking over the business.
>You flipped through the pages, looking over various aspects of your company.
>A new psyche test; customers had to be tested prior to buying their droid. After all, you were basically creating a human. You couldn't just let them go to bad homes.
>A price sheet for droid costs: pretty expensive, but there were ways to go about it. Working for the company had it's benefits in the form of severe discounts, and if that wasn't possible, a customer could always pay monthly.
>Speaking of which, reports had come in from several subareas in the company. Hospitals across the country were taking trained members of DokiCorp on staff to help treat android patients who suffered injuries. A small task team had been assembled to reclaim those who couldn't make payments, and to rescue any Doki in danger. And the excavation squad had made good progress in mining out essential materials for droid creation, which was sure to bring costs down a bit further.
>And with the costs coming down, the price would come down a bit, too. You had to keep the lights on, and a decent pay was well earned, but you remembered why you started this company.
>The fire Monika lit in your heart burned, and with it, you made your dream your reality.
>And with that fire, you'd make other's dreams reality, too.