Fenrir has much to think about. This isn’t another game where the NPCs are just mindless lines of emotionless code. This is a game where the NPCs, by Fenrir’s standards, can be considered truly alive.

Most of the world may not agree with Fenrir’s stance regarding artificial intelligence, but most of the world does not matter to him.

What matters to him is his stance and he refuses to change it.

These NPCs are alive. Sure, some may not have actual AIs behind them as only some NPCs become “important” enough to have an AI dedicated to them rather than just be controlled by the overseer, but the important ones are worth defending and fighting for. To cause conflict which would put real lives at risk – that isn’t something that Fenrir believes he can do.

Truthfully, the whole game feels less appealing to him now. It isn’t that the game is less fun because he can’t just freely kill people and cause trouble without worrying about the consequences. Rather, it is because this feels less like a game and more like another reality.

This world may be virtual. This world may just be a fantasy simulation. However, this world has real lives being lived within it. While players are off going on adventures, having sex wherever they want, freely starting wars, and generally only caring about themselves as a gamer normally would, there are actual lives being lived. NPCs have to work to feed their families, can’t just respawn if they die, and are generally at the mercy of any and all players around them.

Bright lights fill the sky as fireworks erupt above them.

Oleander and Corwin are sitting near the stern of the ship while Fenrir, Serra, and Cassiel sit at the bow. Rock is below deck with Tabitha, hiding from the scary explosions in the sky as Tabitha finetunes The Shoebill’s engine.

“You don’t look like you’re enjoying this that much,” Cassiel says to Fenrir.

“Sorry. I’m just thinking about what Corwin said,” Fenrir answers.

Volley after volley of fireworks is shot into the sky. Each one erupts a good dozen or so seconds later, filling the dark sky with all sorts of colorful explosions.

Fenrir wraps his arms around the girls and pulls them against his sides. He has to distract himself from his concerns.

“Either of you ever see fireworks in real life?” he asks.

Serra rests her head against his side before answering him, “Yeah. Didn’t know they’d be this loud.”

“I was taken to a few shows growing up, but that’s it,” Cassiel answers.

Giving them attention fails to take his mind off of NPCs. In fact, it just makes it even worse.

How many NPCs are seeing fireworks for the first time right now? How many parents are finding the best spots for their children to watch the show from?

“This game is kind of fucked up, Saya,” Fenrir thinks to her.

Saya takes a few moments to respond, “Yeah, Onii-chan.”

“The overseer is another AI, right? Why doesn’t it do more to protect NPCs, or why does it install custom AIs into some NPCs if it’s just going to kill them off eventually?”

“Everything the overseer does is meant to maximize the entertainment factor for players. I can run the simulations myself. Respawning NPCs and NPCs without true AIs controlling them both result in a sizeable drop of the player base. It makes the game feel less realistic and like player actions don’t actually matter, Onii-chan.”

“So, you’re telling me that a bunch of players would quit if they couldn’t kill living people?”

“Sorry, Onii-chan, but they don’t see it the same way as you do. Most people just see us AIs as fake things created solely to serve humans. Why do you think attempted laws at giving us rights keep on failing to get passed? In the end, the overseer has hard code written to maximize the potential player base. You know, stuff like traumatic content can be enabled or disabled. That means that the overseer is able to attract players who want to play the game for that sort of stuff while also giving a way out to people who don’t. If it was just one or the other, the game would be losing a lot of potential players.”

“Sorry that us humans are too shitty to give you the rights you deserve, Saya.”

Fenrir feels her mentally poke him. “Silly Onii-chan! I’m fine – I’m happy getting to serve you. You’re kind and honest, and you do what you believe is the right thing to do, and you care more about us AIs than most people do, so I couldn’t ask for a better human to serve,” Saya explains.

“Come on, even if you’re in my head, you’re going to embarrass me if you talk like that. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be a tsundere?” Fenrir asks her.

“I-it’s not like I was trying to make you feel nice or anything, b-baka!”

“That’s more like it. You’re supposed to remind me how cringy my tastes are, not fangirl over me.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be so deserving of getting fangirled over, O-nii-chan.”

Fenrir feels his heart flutter, and seeing as how Saya is in his mind, she picks up on that and giggles.

He holds onto Serra and Cassiel tighter.

“I really wish I could play this game just for fishing,” Fenrir starts talking out loud again, “but the damn troublemaker in me has other plans.”

“What?” Serra asks, looking up at his face.

“I… feel really stupid saying this, but I think I want to try and make a place where NPCs can live freely and safely. When we’re done with this tournament, I want to help out NPCs. If I don’t, who else is going to? Most people are just like Bonekraka. They don’t care if they kill a sentient NPC. If I was a lawyer then I’d try fighting for them in real life, but… I think the best thing that I can do for them is fight for them in this game. Even if it’s just a single game, maybe I’ll be able to do something to help them out and change others’ minds.”

“You’ve already changed one,” Cassiel says. “I – I’ll admit that I’ve had to kill NPCs during war before, but I wouldn’t now. I actually feel kind of sick when I think back to it now.”

Fenrir leans down and kisses the top of her head. “Then, when we’re done with this, we’ll see what we can do about making this a better world for NPCs – no, they shouldn’t even be referred to like that. It feels dehumanizing… even if they aren’t technically human in the first place. They’re just people like the rest of us.”

“What about the plan?” Serra asks.

“It needs to change, we can’t potentially start a war. Just gonna have to think of something else,” Fenrir says.

The firework show’s finale begins. The largest volley of fireworks yet is shot into the sky and seems to never end. Fireworks are even shot up into the sky from areas around the city where they weren’t being shot from before, leading to a beautiful spectacle as the entire city is covered by brilliant lights painting the sky a myriad of colors.

When it’s over, Serra tugs on Fenrir’s arm to grab his attention before saying, “I rented the hotel room again.”

Fenrir blinks a few times.

Alright, now that got his mind off of the serious matter from before.

He looks over at Cassiel to see her thoughts on it but just sees a reddened face that refuses to look at him directly.

The three head for the hotel again.

A couple of hours later and one of the hotel’s workers knocks on the door to tell them that their time is up.

They all hurry to get dressed before opening the door. While Fenrir and Cassiel try acting inconspicuous, Serra is proud of everything that just happened in that room.

As embarrassing as it is to essentially get kicked out of the room, and then have to look at somebody who definitely knows what happened in there - at least he got another rebirth counter out of it.

Fenrir walks the girls back to The Shoebill so that they can get into their hammocks and wake from the game. It’s almost midnight in reality, and he wants them to be well-rested for the tournament, so he nags them to log off and go to bed like an annoying mother scolding her children up past their bedtime.

“You get some sleep, too,” Serra says, placing a quick kiss on Fenrir’s lips before waking from the game.

“I will soon,” Fenrir says to her now-sleeping face.

He returns above deck and looks back at the stern.

What he sees makes him immediately turn around and leave.

Well, at least he understands how Oleander and Corwin are managing to do what they’re doing without making any noise now.

Fenrir leaves The Shoebill behind and heads into the city. He knows that his sleep schedule is too disturbed at the moment to be able to sleep if he wakes now, so he figures that he’ll spend some more time in-game enjoying the festival and thinking about how he wants to handle the whole AI situation.

A girl with straight, pearl aqua hair and a serpentine tail following behind her runs through a distant alleyway.

That hair and that tail – it has to be her, doesn’t it?

Fenrir chases after her.