Kuru: Oh my. Already giving up, Miss Namie? Or did she have some pressing business to attend to?
Mai: I pressed the trapdoor button.
Rocchi: Sorry about that. I was just planning a party with my friend.
Rocchi: Are you two girls, by the way?
Rocchi: Because I’ve got a bit of time until the party.
Rocchi: Do you mind if I hang out here and chat until then?
Rocchi: Is that okay with you?
Kuru: Oh my. Should you really be talking to ladies in such a forward manner online? You never know, we might be men pretending to be women.
Mai: Gender undisclosed.
Mai: Mysterious!
Rocchi: Nah, I can tell. You’re not pretending. You’re both girls.
Kuru: That’s a very entertaining guess, but do you have evidence? I believe that you might be better suited to writing rom-coms than playing detective. The Internet is the shining darkness of the modern world, where no one can see the other’s face. What makes you so certain of the fact that I must be a woman, just because my manner of communication is so blatantly feminine?
Rocchi: A hunch.
Rocchi: I can tell from the writing when someone’s a cute girl.
Mai: You’re scary.
Mai: You’re a philanderer.
Rocchi: Can’t deny that one.
Kuru: What a strange gentleman. Oh, pardon me. I did not take into account the possibility that you might be a woman.
Rocchi: Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Am I cool for bearing the burden of the shining darkness of the modern world?
Kuru: Anonymity is a thing of the past, after that previous outburst. Miss Namie has most crudely revealed the identities of those who inhabit this place. This entire chat room was predicated upon a delicate balance—made of a group of people who know each other but do not know each other’s aliases. Now it is ruined and must be reset. No score, no game, no future.
Mai: That’s sad.
Rocchi: I mean, it sure sounds like you know who everyone is.
Kuru: Yes, we had the pleasure of the superiority of knowledge, knowing all and being mere observers. Now this valuable place of play will be lost to us. It is a shame, but I suppose there is little one can do but chalk it up to the work of fate.
Mai: Very sad.
Rocchi: That’s not true, is it?
Rocchi: There are many things you can say when you’re not looking the other person in the face, but there are also lots of things you can say because you know who you’re talking to, right?
Kuru: Oh my. Such as what?
Rocchi: A confession of love.
Mai: Incredible.
Rocchi: Of course, you can also do that when neither party knows the other very well and get into a load of trouble because of it.
Rocchi: I mean, look, I don’t know the first thing about this chat room.
Rocchi: But since I happened to be here for its ending, it would be nice to get to know you.
Kuru: You really will say whatever you want, won’t you? Who in the world are you?
Mai: Who are you.
Rocchi: Just a passing ne’er-do-well.
Rocchi: And I’m heading to a ne’er-do-well party in Ikebukuro.
Rocchi: I wouldn’t go outside until the night is over, if I were you.
Kuru: Oh my. You speak exactly like a certain someone I know. Just when I was preparing to head out into the city, to relieve myself of the loneliness of knowing this special place has been irrevocably broken.
Mai: We’re in sync.
Rocchi: Pardon me.
Rocchi: But in fact, this place isn’t special.
Rocchi: Out there, in here—it’s all the same.
Rocchi: I mean, when you pass people on the street, you both might as well be anonymous, right?
Rocchi: You never know where an acquaintance might be hiding in plain sight.
Rocchi: And that can break down out of nowhere, just like this message board.
Rocchi: Well, so long.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rocchi has left the chat.