< -and she refused to eat her asparagus!> Pandy finished, somehow finding this as strange as any of the rest of it. Asparagus hadn't been her favorite in her old world, but here it was sweet, and crispy, and juicy, and simply delicious. How could anyone not want to eat it?

I don't know much about children.

But isn't that just how they are at that age?

Pandy had called on Keros as soon as she was certain Thaniel was asleep, and she was a bit miffed that he wasn't taking this as seriously as she thought he should be.

She did say she was going to go to a party with her friends back home.

She's probably just angry because she had to miss it.

I remember one time my brother-

<The point is, she's not acting like Clara!> Pandy interrupted. <Isn't your spell supposed to make sure everything happens the way it does in Gacha Love?>

The events, yes.

That scene where Dorian rescues Clara from the-

<But if she doesn't act like Clara, none of the boys will like her,> Pandy wailed, rolling over on her back. She was so conflicted. On the one hand, of course she couldn't allow the story to proceed the way it had in the game. Not only would that require Thaniel's death, but it would force Lian into the role of a mad, magically-maladjusted, murderous mage.

But if Clara still went to Condor, still met all of the boys, and still acted like, well, Clara, then they would still fall in love with her. After all, they were already well and truly infatuated before the murders began, so that part of the story wasn't even necessary to get the romantic ball rolling. No pun intended, because the Midwinter Ball was-

It's still almost three years before the beginning of Gacha Love.

We have no idea what will happen to her between now and then.

Though personally, I think Dorian could do better.

I bet Clara wouldn't even know what a Titan's Tonic is.

Pandy gasped in outrage. <Dorian could do better? Dorian is the only one of the boys who doesn't have an entire flock of girls chasing after him. And with good reason!>

All he needs is one.

The right one.

You heard Augustus.

He said Cora was already writing his name in her notebook.

<And Cora is the worst of the villainesses!> Pandy pointed out. <She could have killed Clara when she trapped her in that closet with the Petalisk.>

At which point Dorian has to save her.

But Cora was able to capture and control the Petalisk, while Clara just screamed and cried.

<Cora was too stupid to realize the thing couldn't petrify Clara in the dark,> Pandy pointed out.

Was she?

Or did she just want to frighten Clara, not kill her at all?

Pandy had to admit that had not occurred to her. While the Cora she'd met when Augustus and Beeswick were interrogating Dark mages had seemed normal enough, by the time she reached Condor, she would be almost as much of a muscle-head as her beloved Dorian. It had simply never occurred to Pandy that locking an enemy in a small, dark space with a creature who needed light in order to harm her was anything except exactly the kind of mistake to be expected of someone like that.

<But Clara could have cast a light spell, allowing the Petalisk to petrify her. If Clara hadn't figured out what it was based on the sound and scent, and intentionally stayed in the dark- >

Cora and Clara had Magical Menaces together just two days before.

If Clara couldn't figure it out after Professor Galashiel spent half the lecture on it, then she deserved to be petrified.

It's not like someone wouldn't have found Clara and called for the healer if she did get petrified, and the Petalisk can't actually eat humans.

Okay, that was fair. Pandy shook her head, ears flopping. Wait, no it wasn't! There was no way anyone really interested in Dorian had more than two brain cells to rub together. After all, if Cora actually was smart enough to plan all of that out, why wouldn't she have moved on to someone more worthy in the three years between now and then?

<Not the point. The point is that Clara is acting really oddly,> Pandy said, but she wasn't so sure by now. Keros had actually made some valid arguments. Maybe Pandy really was reading more into Clara's current detachment than she should be. When Pandy herself was thirteen, she'd started watching old episodes of Gilligan's Island on FreeTube. She wrote a whole series of love letters to Gilligan, which her foster sister at the time took pictures of and spread throughout their school. Hormones were weird.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Keep an eye on her, then.

But I don't think there's really anything to worry about.

<You don't get anything strange off of her?> Pandy asked.

Nothing.

My magic hasn't triggered at all when she's around, either.

Which presumably meant it wasn't doing anything to make Clara act this way. It was just… Clara. A bland, boring, possibly sulking Clara.

Flopping over onto her side, Pandy stretched out her legs, splaying her fluffy toes. <I was really excited to get to spend more time with her,> she admitted. <I always thought Clara seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't be mean to anyone. Even someone incredibly unlucky and socially awkward.>

…

You hoped to be her friend.

<I guess I did,> Pandy said. <But this Clara seems like,> she hesitated, hating the word that popped into her head, and instead said, <She's a little self-centered? She wanted to go to the party with her friends, she didn't get to, and she's taking it out on Geraldine. She hasn't spoken to her sister once without being forced to. Poor Geraldine looks like she wants to cry every time she looks at Clara.>

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. Geraldine had tried to engage her sister in conversation several times, but when Clara barely responded, the younger girl didn't seem all that surprised or upset about it. Which led to another thought Pandy really didn't like. Was this normal for Clara? She'd barely interacted with Geraldine or Thaniel back on the Reedsley estate, but she'd had previous engagements with her friends, and she'd even arranged the birthday party for Thaniel.

Except that that party hadn't seemed like a child's birthday party at all. There were no other children there except Geraldine, only adults and Clara's friends. Yes, they were gathering donations for Thaniel, and children didn't exactly have any gold to offer, but they could have played with Thaniel, which would have been a gift in and of itself.

You have to remember that while this world is very similar to Gacha Love, it isn't the same.

When the time comes, my magic will bring the main characters together, and recreate the events that occurred in the game.

But it can't force someone to be something they aren't.

<And Clara will be sixteen by then,> Pandy said, as much to herself as the god. <You're right. We have no idea what will change over the next few years. Clara hardly ever talks about herself in the game, other than to mention her younger sister. We do know that something must happen to make the Reedsleys lose some of their money, because while they don't seem terribly wealthy now, I get the feeling they're comfortable. But by the time Clara goes to school, they can barely even afford her uniform.>

Hardships are character-building.

Which explained why Pandy was absolutely chock full of character. Rolling back onto her belly, she rested her chin on her paws. <All right, I'll stop worrying.>

Good.

Because I was about to get to the Midwinter Ball, and I love it when Dorian picks Clara up and jumps off the balcony.

At the ball, whoever Clara chose to dance with last would take her somewhere afterwards. Dorian, of course, had to show off his big muscles, so he just swooped down and picked Clara up, then stepped onto the railing of the second-story balcony and leaped to the ground. Pandy supposed the scene was all right, especially when Clara looped her arms around his thick neck and the background went all fuzzy and glowy, but really, couldn't he even use his words and ask first?

<I prefer Edgar's event,> Pandy muttered.

He takes her to see a carnivorous plant!

How is that romantic?

<At least it's interesting,> Pandy said defensively. <Dorian just takes Clara to the training yard and finds a reason to take off his coat, so she can see all his muscles through his shirt.>

He gives her his coat because she's cold.

<Which she wouldn't be if he took her someplace warmer, like a nice greenhouse!>

What about Bastian?

He takes her to see that flower, and she gets sick because it's so cold, and she doesn't have a coat.

<If she didn't get sick, they wouldn't have the Bastian's Cozy Cure event,> Pandy pointed out.

And she wouldn't miss three days of classes!

That was an annoying aspect of Bastian's path. Every game-day was precious, because it was an opportunity to level up Clara's skills and spells, making her stronger for the upcoming battles. Pandy was able to make up for it using free gacha spins, but other players either spent real money or had to deal with having a slightly less powerful Clara when the mid-ranked dungeons unlocked after winter break, which was a mild but real irritation.

<That's the only night all year that the flower blooms,> Pandy protested. <But Dorian could take her to the training yard any time.>

He wants to show her how beautiful it is with the untrammeled snow and the full moon.

Had Keros just used the word 'untrammeled'? Keros? It seemed that hardship didn't just build character in humans. So far, Keros had learned to program, played Gacha Love, and now he was using big words. What was next? Knitting?

For a moment, Pandy considered letting the god go play, even if she did think he was on the wrong path. But then she remembered something else she'd been meaning to ask him. <Kappa? When I first used Info on Shield of Darkness, it didn't mention the camouflage effect, but now it does. Why is that?>

What?

Let me see.

The description for Shield of Darkness floated past Pandy's eyes.

Shield of Darkness – Create a protective sphere of Dark around a subject, which will absorb up to 12 percent of the target's health in damage, and has a small chance of dealing an equal amount of damage to any Light elementals who get close. Must be cast in at least partial darkness. When in darkness, partially conceals the occupant(s) from normal vision. Costs twenty Mana, or ten Corruption Points to use outside of designated areas. Levels two through ten increase the amount of damage the shield can absorb by one percent of target's health per level.

This was followed by a string of gibberish that Pandy now recognized as code, and not a sign that the System was glitching again. That hung in the air, then faded, leaving Pandy alone in the darkness beneath Thaniel's bed, until Keros finally spoke again.

It pulls the description from the original game.

In this case, since this spell was modified, Info just grabbed the text for Shield of Light and changed the elemental affinity.

Which wasn't easy to code, just so you know.

But then after you started using it, it was able to gather more data.

Which is as-intended, because of course Gacha Love doesn't say anything about Corruption Points or Mana.

But there's a hook in the spell that leads back to the VitalLink module.

I think the module altered the spell on the fly.

You needed to be stealthy, so it gave you stealth.

Pandy felt a little thrill. <So whoever made this VitalLink is trying to help? It's definitely not the new god, then. They got you arrested and want me gone, so there's no way they're on our side.>

Who knows?

I still don't like the fact that it's reporting back to someone.

And it's definitely set up to do something when your LF reaches a certain number.

If the programmer is on our side, and they're still able to alter the spellcode without my System even noticing it, why wouldn't they find a way to communicate with us?

All it would take is a comment in the code.

She didn't know what that meant exactly, but Pandy thought she had the gist of it, and she had no idea what the answer was. Unless… <Maybe there isn't anyone actually paying attention. You said the code is really complicated, didn't you? So maybe they have their own version of the System,> One that's smarter than yours and doesn't make passive-aggressive comments, she thought very, very quietly, <and it's making the changes?>

I suppose that's possible, but if so, that doesn't really tell us anything.

<Except that whoever is watching everything I do may be an ally, rather than an enemy,> Pandy said.

That's true.

I'll keep trying to figure out exactly what this module does, though.

Just in case.

<And watching Dorian jump off of buildings with perfectly good stairs,> Pandy replied.

That, too.

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