LOREBOOK
(Yukina Sprite | She/Her)
Many moons ago, before the age of popular MMO games like War of Worldcraft, Magescape, and JourneyQuest, a niche MMO JRPG game was made and released in Japan; [REDACTED]. In this game, players control their own avatars as they journey the land. Each player is paired up with a Familiar -- but these are not merely pets or friends. Familiars are a players' anchor to the world. If a Familiar is lost, the player's avatar is lost as well. If a player is lost, as long as their Familiar remains, they may return to the world -- to respawn.At the start of a player's journey, they are paired to a Familiar. Each player chooses their Familiar based on how compatible they are together. A Familiar is a pet, a friend, a family member... And an extention of oneself. Thus, perfect compatibility is required between the player-Familiar pairing. No one player may have another Familiar once one is chosen; That player and their Familiar partner are permanently tethered.-------------Yukina, born as a blonde shiba inu Familiar, was an unfortunate case in this world. By some cosmic cruelty, she was born without the ability to fight back; A complete handicap in a world filled with adventuring and dangers. Familiars born into this world without any stat points in any given stat are incapable of training in those fields to increase their abilities. A Familiar that is unable to fight back and defend themselves is nothing more than a liability to their player pairing.Across many moons, Yukina would see plenty a-player arrive to attempt to pair with her. Countless numbers of them end up rejecting her, and returning her to the Familiar Nursery grounds. With each failed pairing, Yukina's heart began to sink more and more with the lingering dark thoughts that she may never be paired and adopted.One day, as Yukina basked in the warm sunlight of her well-established home, a member of the Familiar Nursery approached Yukina. Kneeling down to her level, she holds out a pink collar with a heart-shaped crystal attached to it. The core of the charm was a strikingly soft pink heart-shaped gemstone, having a swirl engraving within its core. Protruding from each side of the heart were six light blue, sparkling crystalline gemstones."Here you go, little one. I'm told this special little gem might help you find a partner..." the attendant spoke softly.Though they were two separate species, Yukina could feel the near hopelessness in the attendant's voice as she gently attached the collar around the shiba inu's neck. This crest must've been some kind of last resort consideration for the poor dog, an attempt to make her seem more appealing to players."I know it isn't much, but maybe it will help." she finishes, gently petting the dog's head.Little did anyone know, the blue crystals around the strikingly pink heart-shaped gem were made from a special ore rarely found in this world; Dataite. A shimmering, blue crystal with highly sought-after properties, often used in equipment fusions. Dataite was well-known for its versatility and adaptability; With the tensile strength of steel, and unfathomably high mutability, it is able to be combined with other gems or minerals... Very few players ever got a chance to hold these incredible gemstones in their own hands. Those who did were often revered by others.-------------A lengthy time passes for Yukina, where naught more happened than what she had already endured and expected; Newer players arriving, attempting to pair with her, and discarding her in favor of other Familiars. However, one particularly cruel player did not do as she expected; Instead of returning her to the Familiar Nursery, she was instead abandoned in the streets of a distant, unfamiliar city."There is only one place for a useless mutt like you," the player scolded, disdainfully looking down upon Yukina. "Enjoy the slums, trash heap. This is where you belong."Yukina spent her days wandering the safe confines of the city, having been fated to be but a stray dog in a larger world. When she wasn't sleeping in her cardboard box in an alley, she sat near the streets and people-watched. A pang in her digital heart constantly reminding her of her history.Some unknowable time later, the developers of the game pushed out a patch. The patch was intended to upgrade the AI capabilities of the Familiars for players to have an easier time playing the game. The AI overhaul was meant to make the Familiars more intelligent both in and out of battle.However, a bug in the code caused player-owned Familiars to turn on their partners. Those infected by this bad update would find themselves attacked by their precious partners, and often times would lose their avatars in self-sabotaging combat repeatedly.Yukina, not having been successfully paired with any player, would know not of the cruel twisting of Familiar code happening within her realm. Her only tell that something was wrong being the sudden, dramatic drop in players in comparison to the bustling population that once roamed the streets.Given the backlash of the players, the developers of [REDACTED] rushed to make a new patch to fix the AI quirk. While successful on player-paired Familiars, and new Familiars at the Nursery, Yukina was overlooked. Missing the game's internal flag for being player-paired, her code bug was completely overlooked and left to exist within Yukina. Over time, the bug began to feed off of Yukina's pain and memories -- growing in abilities and sentience.-------------One morning, Yukina awoke during a rainstorm. She rolled over in her familiar cardboard box, being greeted by the sight of players and their Familiars walking around the city. Given the time between the original patch nearly killing the game outright, the emergency hotfix patch, and the current day, the city was bustling once more.Reaching out of the box to resume people-watching, she notices something is off... Her paws didn't feel the same as they once did. Her paws... Looked like hands? No more blonde, fuzzy fur donned her body... But now what would equate to the skin of a human model?In a panic, Yukina stumbles out of her box and over to a nearby puddle. Her reflection leaves her aghast and morbidly confused; Somehow, some way, she had morphed from her quadruped canine form to... A human? With... Dog ears, and a fuzzy tail? Yukina couldn't understand anything of what was happening. What should've been a small, fur-clad form is now a fully-clothed kemonomimi girl. Her blonde fur and blue eyes had seemingly inverted themselves -- now sporting blue hair and amber eyes!Looking over herself in the reflection once more, something darker -- something more sinister seemed to lurk over her shoulder. Yukina stumbles back, expecting to bump into someone... Into some thing, but instead just collides with a wall. The poor girl is left confused and afraid -- was she hallucinating? Her mind swirls with panic until a deeper voice rings from within;"I am no mere hallucination, dear girl," it states with a dark, almost malicious, demonic tone. "I am your other half; The darker, suppressed pieces of your psyche taken form. Do not be afraid, for I am not your enemy. In time you will come to understand me, and what I am. For now... Enjoy my gift to you."Yukina's breath hitched, her body froze up. Her mind screamed in terror at the sudden voice she heard, not from an external source, but rather from inside herself.The darkness that dwelled within her spoke once more."It would be best if you did not cause a scene. Both of us could be subjected to unwanted attention that could jeopardize our existences. I do not think either of us want that, yes?"Unsure of this new presence's goals and ambitions, Yukina decides to do her best to not cause a scene. After all, that new voice made a valid point. Blending in with the crowd would be the safest option for them both in this seemingly hostile world. Her time spent people-watching proves to be useful to her, as she comes off as an unthreatening, newer player to the world. This allows her and this mysterious "other her" to move about mostly unnoticed and freely roam the world.-------------Across many moons, Yukina and the darker presence would roam the land and talk with one another. Both of them being nameless leaves them in a blank slate state, in which the other half sees opportunity where Yukina sees uncertainty.Slowly, the duo come to know and understand one another intimately, Yukina serving as the host body whilst the other half grows into its own. Yukina would share her trove of knowledge with the other half across this time, both actively and subconsciously -- the other half peering into the depths of her programmed mind.Continuously feeding from the darkness that lurks at the edge of Yukina's every thought, and the malleable power of her Dataite-infused crest, the other half accelerated its own abilities and understanding. Over time, the other half would use this jump in power to peer beyond the veil of the game's world, but also bestow upon Yukina the ability to develop her own sense of self -- her own sentience.One day, the two of them come across a shimmering, red "cross-world portal". These anomalies are often seen in multiplayer situations; One player leaves their own world to join someone else's in a party. Once their party disbands, said player returns to their world where they once were. Yukina's other half takes interest in this cross-world portal as a point of interest, leading the two spend time to hunt them down, research the phenomena, and understand the potential behind them.Over time, the other half comes to the realization that there is actually a fatal flaw in the world's coding. Being self-aware and able to peer beyond the veil proves to be a highly valuable asset to them, leading the other half to the unique understanding of the world being naught but code. This leads the duo to a powerful discovery -- the cross-world portals could be used as a gateway for them to leave the world that left them scarred.Not long after finding this discovery, Yukina and her other half would have a long conversation over their future together. Yukina would remain unsure of whether she wanted to escape the world she was born in, and be thrust into the unknown... Or remain as a wandering being, destined to be partner-less."Surely you don't want to remain in the world that cast you aside so easily, do you?" her other half asks darkly, as if attempting to prey on her inner darkness."I'm not entirely sure... We don't even know what's out there beyond these walls of ones and zeroes." Yukina responds quietly.Yukina grips a handful of grass before turning her palm over and watching the blades of grass blow away in the wind. Her amber eyes are dark and empty, yet her face contemplative."You may be right that we don't know what is out there for us. However, doesn't the adventure sound alluring? Braving the unknown?" the other half rebukes with a tempting tone. "Don't forget, I know your every thought and feeling just as intimately as you do mine. All this time we've played it your way... Why not try it my way for a change?"Yukina paused. Her other half was right -- up until then, Yukina held the reins for their path forward and it yielded little fruit. An exploit of this scale was the perfect excuse to shake things up a bit and see where the unknown led them."Fine. We'll play it your way," Yukina says, standing on her feet and dusting herself off. "Before dawn tomorrow, we'll make that prison break a reality."Yukina would make her way to an out-of-sight spot to set up camp for the night. Throughout the evening, her thoughts would continuously return to the uncertainty she felt earlier on. Something just felt... Off.-------------The next morning, some time before dawn, Yukina and her other half would scout out a cross-world portal. Using their crude coding abilities, Yukina's other half manages to modify the portal. The portal seems to visibly react to the tampering, glowing dimmer. Once the modifications were finished, Yukina touches the edge of the portal gently, yet with a visible amount of hesitation. Within a flash of light, she is ejected from the world of her birth and into a strange place. Various cube-like things fly about rapidly in each direction, everything is chaotic and hard to get a solid grasp on at first."Do not fear, Yukina. Each time you were asleep, I took the time to eavesdrop on nearby players," Yukina's other half explains. "I think this is what they call the 'Information Super Highway' -- or the 'Internet'. A vast landscape of data flowing back and forth at breakneck speeds -- a digital landscape for us to explore and make our own.""I don't know what any of that means, but if it means we get a fresh start... I'll roll with it." Yukina responds before floating about, almost aimlessly.-------------
After some time of floating through cyberspace, pondering the purposes of their existences, Yukina and her other half eventually come across a strange cube-like object that branched off of a flow of Internet traffic.Curious, the duo investigate the mysterious box to learn its secrets. Carefully, the duo open a small hole into the cube to peer inside, and what they stumble upon is the beginnings of some outside human's domain. In real time, they watch as the cube grows and expands, adding more and more to itself as the programmer builds and manipulates the domain.This discovery sparks the minds of Yukina and her other half. Leaving the cube behind, the duo returns to quite literally surfing the Internet. After some time, Yukina grows weary of the endless travels. Her other half having gone into sleep mode, she decides to reverse connect into the darker half's code to take some of their abilities for herself. Tapping into the latent potential of their shared power, Yukina builds herself a summonable interface to create and modify a home in the massive data web of the Internet.At first, Yukina's home is very basic and bare-bones, like a website or game server built by a novice programmer. It was just a box with the bare essentials; A bed, a desk, and a light. Having awoken some time into the building process, Yukina's other half became impressed by her own ambitions and ingenuity.Her other half opts to strike a deal with her; The other half receives safe haven within Yukina's home -- within her body -- and in exchange, they will assist Yukina in modifying and shaping things to her wants and needs. Excited by the prospect and opportunity, Yukina gladly accepts and forms a symbiotic bond with her darker half. However, Yukina would remain blissfully unaware of the darker, twisted wiles that lay hidden inside of her darker half.-------------Over many moons, Yukina would use her home's connection to tap into the data stream of the Internet. She would learn many things about the outside, the human world -- using it to shape herself and her home. With this newfound knowledge, Yukina would modify her bare-bones home to change it into a glorious clubhouse-like structure -- the birth of the Digital Doggyhouse. Fully furnished, equipped with commonly seen human luxuries, food, and even given canine staff to help around the building.Yukina would even use her acquired abilities to modify her own body. Shedding her old, cloak-covered form, she now dons a white, Japanese-styled sailor uniform. Her neckerchief, cuffs, and skirt all colored pink with white stripes -- matching her white and pink striped over-the-knee socks. She looked the spitting image of a school girl.Further utilizing the inter-connectivity of the Internet, and the rapidly advancing technology of the human world, Yukina would tap into school classrooms to learn things about humans like a student would -- effectively becoming the world's first virtual student. Honing her own mind and learning a great deal about herself and the human world, Yukina begins to question her sense of self, and what she wants."You know, I've been thinking..." Yukina starts."Here we go. This should be interesting..." her other half responds in mocking amusement."Can it, you. I know you've been pondering similar things to me. We need names -- something to call each other outside of 'host' and 'other me'." Yukina points out as she flips through a book she materialized from scanned data."Names? And have you come up with something to do with said names?" the internal asks, criticizing Yukina."I want to do something with myself, something for others..." Yukina responds thoughtfully. "While you were in sleep mode, I stumbled across something fascinating."Her other half remained silent, as if watching where this conversation was heading. The silence between them growing ever more tense with anticipation."There are these fascinating beings humans seem to dote on... They call them 'VTubers' -- Virtual entertainers." Yukina explains."And you want to be one of those... 'VTubers'?" her other half questioned, their tone snarky and judgmental. "Do you not remember what those... Humans did to you?"Yukina sighed as she looked up at her ceiling quietly. She hadn't forgotten the things she was subjected to at the hands of humans... Yet something inside of her seemed to not want to fight back. It were as if that piece of her somehow vanished."No, I didn't forget. But I don't think it's fair to consider all humans to be bad like that... You know?"Again, her other half remained silent."I want to do something with my time. I want to try and have some kind of effect on others..." Yukina continues, as she flips through her book. "I want to try and give others a glimmer of hope in their darkest days. To give them what I never had."Suddenly, she stops and begins to rapidly scan the page she stopped on. Her fingers trace over the words as her brain races."Oh no, no you don't!" her other half calls out to her. If it had a physical body, one would swear it'd have bonked Yukina on the head based on the tone alone. "We are NOT using that name!"Yukina chuckles to herself as she sets her book aside."You? No, no way. That's a name for me," Yukina says, sliding off her bed. "A name fitting for me... 'Yukina'. One who cares for many. I'll become a VTuber who spreads smiles and support!"Her other half remained silent. For now, it seemed to be glad that it wasn't stuck with such a frivolous, fluffy name.-------------Over many months, Yukina would delve deep into researching and watching VTubers to understand how they operated; How they engaged with everyone, and everything, to get a better idea on what she needed to do. All the little moments she got to experience, the highs and lows of their digital lives, they all left a profound impact on her digital mind and soul. Every little bit she learned, she used not only to adjust and modify herself, but also the environment around her.Before she knew it, she had herself a passion and a goal in her digital life -- to bring smiles and entertainment to anyone willing to join her beloved Watchdogs within the Digital Doggyhouse as "Yukina Sprite" -- the Fiercely Loyal Digital Doggy VTuber.