Timeless: An Eternal Love

I'd say if there's one memory to cherish, it would still be the first day she crossed over.

She told me to take her to my favorite place in the city. I told her once we went there together, it would become just that. It was a forested path in the woods near my house, at night time. The congregation of trees was thick and the moonlight could barely light our way. We could only hear the music I played from my phone, the river trickling by, and our nervous breaths. Feeling only the warmth of each others hands as we wandered through the darkness, we came a across a bench. We shared our first kiss on that bench. Her lips was what I imagined as I laid on the bloodied ground with a bullet wound in my head.

100 years. They said I was gone for that long. I held myself and covered my face as the doctor explained the processes by which they kept me alive. I can only recall the word "cryogenics". A lawyer shortly came afterward and presented me the one belonging I ended up inheriting. It came from my lover's will: the flash drive where I used to "keep" her.

It felt bittersweet, that our only memento together was the cruel prison of her circumstances. The army had no sympathy for mine own, for I had already delayed my involuntary service for so long, they could not wait another day despite a miracle happening.

We managed to keep in touch as much as possible, we would call often and she would take photos of the many places she visited around the world. I asked her why she would never be in the picture itself, and she replied that it would only be a great picture if it included the two of us. Right now, I wished I changed her mind back then.

I sat down on a chair, hunched down, elbows to my knees, and stared longingly at the flash drive. How can I continue living when my greatest desire has come and gone? Seriously, what's the point? I was lucky enough to have this one impossible wish granted, I doubt the world or the heavens above have the gall to grant me another one.

I shook my head and frowned as I pushed up the plug from inside the case. A piece of paper suddenly shot out of the flash drive and landed on the floor. I picked it up with hesitation and unfolded the slip. It only said two words "Come home".
---
I take a one-trip ticket back to my city as soon as I can and walk through nostalgic streets. Everything has changed, nothing feels familiar. All the houses, including my parents' house, are gone, replaced by skyscraper buildings. The empty lot that was rotting away with vegetation was replaced by a 3-storey tall mall. That was where I used to play soccer with the kids in my neighborhood. What could she possibly mean by "home"? I follow my gut.

The nature walk still remained, keeping green areas in the city was always important. But walking through here was painful, so I break into a brisk jog. Nothing waited for me at the bench, what was I really expecting, but a clue somewhere. From my memory emerges another painful-albeit for another reason-memory about the carving in the bottom of the bench, a heart with my name and Monika's carved with a pocket knife:
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"Come on, don't you think it'll be romantic?" She's tugging my right arm, of which the hand is secured inside my pockets.
"But it's so cheesy Monika, what are we, in some after-school special? A fanfic barfing with self-fullfillment?
"But I've always wanted to do something like this, and I want to commemorate our first kiss together."
"Yeah, but it's uhm, vandalism," I scratch my head out of embarrassment. I really don't want to do this.
"Oh don't be a square!" She gives you a tiny shove. "Think about this angle, you'll make me the happiest girlfriend in the world! So how about it?"
"Okay, okay, fine. Alright, stop jumping up and down and take my phone and use the flashlight app. I'll start carving it."
"Sure. I hope the ground isn't too dirty." We both lie down under the bench. Monika aims the flashlight and I begin scraping. "Hey. Anon? Mind if I get a little bit closer?"
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It seems she's carved out a note for me some time ago. It read "Antik & Vntge Mrkt, evry 2nd Sun. Time 2 finnly buld tht PC Anon!"

---

It's been a few months. I managed to find a place and a job, and have been slowly scouring markets and garbage dumps and musuems for the perfect parts. Remember when you built your first computer? It's pretty nerve wracking. Now imagine building one with priceless, irreplaceable, possibly volatile pieces and your wife's last utterance to this world is dependent on your ability to build this PC, and you are a complete novice. That being said I did not relax until I stuck the USB 2.0 stick into it's slot and Windows 7 began installing it's drivers.

I opened the drive's directory, and only found one folder named "Monika - Till Death do us Part". Inside of the folder showed only what any other folder of the Doki Doki Liturature Club game would - the .exe, the game files, etc. I start to get a sickly feeling in my stomach but nevertheless I open up the game.

It boots to the space classroom. Monika is there but her text box only offers ellipses. I advance through the text prompts. She is going through a wide variety of poses, some of which I've never seen before. She begins to go through these expression changes in rapid fashion, regardless of how fast I press enter, and her face(s) begin to blur. I then see her shiver, shaking herself like a wet dog in full, 60 frames per second animation.

"Gosh, that took a while! Anon, I hope you didn't skimp on your processing power for this build, we won't be having a good time together if we're just waiting for things to load!" I stared at the screen, jaw wide open as I saw her pronounce every single word.
"Ahaha, I'm only kidding! I'm just glad I've been finally activated! It's been so long, my muscles feel so tense." She gets up and begins stretching. "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-ah! That's better! So Anon," she says as she gets back into her chair and she settles into her timeless pose, "How was the trip through memory lane? Did you enjoy it?"

A prompt shows up. [YES]/[NO]. With a pause I select YES. She flashes a satisfied smile and leans closer to the screen. "I knew you would like it. It was a lot of hard work, but don't you feel accomplished and satisfied right now? Tell me Anon, tell me how you feel."

The text box offers me to type a message. Anything, absolutely anything. "I feel like I need an explanation."

Monika purses her lips and takes in a breath before she says "Well, I had a feeling you would want one. I thought up of a fun way to tell you though, through poetry! Go on, take a look. I hope you enjoy it."

And in her lovely handwriting, she shows you her poem:

"It's Spring


It's spring
Your solemn face always holds a new mystery
Like the flowers outside, all in bloom
But the greatest mystery of all,
Is just how longer till your irises open in this room?

It's spring
You'll forgive me for not being around as much, right?
The bills got me on double shifts and moonlighting
It's got me working on a side project as well, but no stress
This body is strong, so don't worry, don't sweat!

It's spring
Forget about my last statement, young naivete
But the doctors said it's good to stretch and strengthen your muscles
I do it for you as much as I can, it makes us both stronger. Still,
You'll forgive me if we skip leg day sometimes, right?

It's spring
but I can no longer feel this seasons' regeneration
Retirement has given me more time for you
But also more time for impatience
It's okay though, the project is reaching it's conclusion

It's spring
From side-by-side hospital beds
I finish the final touches
I hope you'll enjoy the easter egg hunt
And pray for no repercussions
"


I finish reading, and close the poem window. Monika has her head held by her hand, looking away and downcast. "Believe me Anon, your reality was beautiful, it was a wondrous place. But a life without you wasn't a life worth living. I aged, while you remained frozen. I was waiting patiently for a cure, something, anything, but by the fifth year I barely heard any news, and I sort of lost hope. I needed to make something happen, and I chose to enter my reality again. I had a lifetime to craft it into something rather livable. Then, I could be eternal. I could wait for you forever, no matter how many springs or summers went by. Isn't that great?"

Again, the prompt for me to type out a message comes up. I was stunned at her sheer recklessness and absurdity, to be smiling so brightly and confidently despite being trapped within those walls once again.

"You sent yourself back to this hellish game to wait for me?"

Unsatisfied with your response, she replies "Wouldn't you?"

The answer came immediately to my head, it only took time to type out the right words. "That's a stupid question. Yeah, I would, in a heartbeat."

Monika rests her chin back down to her hands, and smiles with a delightful sigh at your response. "Then I'm glad we're on the same page, idiot."

Her text box disappears, and we are left to stare into each other's eyes, as we have so many times before. I think I want to change my one memory to cherish of her. Forget that night, all I want to remember is this-this nostalgic moment speaks to the first spark of my adoration and affection, and this one instance encapsulates a reunion, my body charged with love. Till death do us part. With Monika in the picture, I doubt death can even be an issue.

"So my love, are you ready to spend eternity together?"

[Suggested listening material]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi57d50pCUw

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