Karyn watched as Emily got out of the store. She hadn't been able to do much while Emily was negotiating her reward, and while she wasn't complaining, she felt a bit useless. Most of what she could do involved controlling Emily, and she didn't think her friend would like her doing so, but that left her with nothing to do but watch and occasionally say something. "So, What now?" Emily interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Hum... I don't know." Answered Karyn. There was no new tutorial since Emily won her battle against the rat. "Game? What do we do now?"
You can stay in town and search for new quests or go back to the house for the next tutorial.
"Well, let's go back to the house then." Emily said without hesitation.
"Shouldn't we do more quests?" Karyn asked.
"I don't need more hair removal potion, thanks..."
"I don't think you will get any more unless you do another quest for Elira, and we might get some money."
Emily sighed. "I know, but... They feel too real..."
"What?"
"The NPCs. They feel too real." Emily explained. "I almost forgot I was in a game while I talked to Lyla and her mother. I could talk to them like normal people. I could even touch them!"
"Is that bad?" Karyn asked.
"Yes. Because they're not real! If I have to fight and kill people, I don't want to feel like they're real! I want to know they're just part of the game."
Karyn was speechless for a moment. She knew Jon was real, but she never considered any other character could be. They were just some pixel in a screen. But Jon was directly interacting with them, like he said... Maybe they were real? This game was magic, after all, everything was possible. She had to know for sure! "Game? Are the NPCs in the game real?"
The game took an uncharacteristically long time to answer, making Karyn worry it wouldn't at all, but after almost 10 seconds, a message finally appeared for both her and Emily.
I normally wouldn't be allowed to tell you this, but not knowing might stop you from enjoying this game, so I will make an exception.
Most NPCs only have simple AI and are only programmed to act like humans but nothing more. However, some special characters have more advanced AI and could be considered "real" by your standard as they are conscious of their existence, but you will be able to tell them apart.
Karyn and Emily didn't say anything for a while as they read the message. It was finally Karyn who broke the silence. "Wait! So you're like that? An advanced AI?" However, there was no answer this time, no matter how long they waited.
"What about Lyla and her mother? Do they have the advanced AI?" Emily asked, seeing Karyn's question go unanswered.
No. They have the normal AI.
Emily was relieved to read that. She had feared the implications if even nobodies like them got an advanced AI, but that led to a new problem. "But you said we would be able to tell them apart. How can we do that if even normal AI are so convincing?"
Once again, there was no answer, prompting Karyn to talk. "Please. We have to know!" She didn't expect it to work, but to her surprise, it did.
This is the last thing I will say on this topic. An advanced AI will be able to see the player and interact with them. Now go back to playing.
