The group had just triggered the Root Library's Core Protocols after encountering the corrupted Archive Keeper. A blinding flash erased the corrupted footnotes, and the final phrase echoed:
["Reinitialize narrative anchors."]
As the light faded, the first system notification appeared.
The Anchor pulsed once more, sending a soft tremor through the library. Where once there had been the silent hum of still-editing sentences, now there was a new presence, like a half-loaded file trying to boot.
"Anyone else feel that?" Mira blinked, her visor flashing static.
"Like someone just ran a patch update on our souls," Bryn muttered, looking around. "Out of the blue!"
The lights above flickered, then dimmed to the hue of raw, unread paragraphs. Books shuddered on the shelves as if bracing for an edit.
Then it happened.
A soft ding sounded in the air, followed by a transparent panel flickering into existence in front of Rafael's face.
> [M.O.T.H.E.R. SYSTEM ONLINE [Reconnection Complete.] Welcome back, Rafael. It has been
His HP bar blinked into view, barely visible:
[HP: 320/480] — a crimson gauge with jagged corners, like a torn annotation.
Below it, [MP: 91/250] swirled in motes of italicized mist.
"Oh no," Rafael groaned. "Not this again."
The others stared.
"What the hell is that?" Oren asked, pointing.
"My old system," Rafael sighed. "I think she's... back."
> [New Trait Unlocked: Narrative Instinct — You gain passive bonuses when disobeying genre conventions. New Message from M.O.T.H.E.R.: "Hello, sweet child. The others must awaken too."]
Before anyone could respond, more dings followed. One by one, translucent screens appeared in front of the others—each glitchy, half-loaded, and very confused.
Lira's interface buzzed to life with a flash of sharp, sterile blue:
> [SYSTEM: L.E.X.I.S. — (Linguistic Execution for Xenolinguistic Internal Syntax)]
> [Welcome, Archivist Lira. Translation protocols reinitialized.]
Her stat panel hovered into view:
[HP: 260/260] [MP: 500/500] [INT: 92] [WIT: 85]
A row of new skills auto-scrolled:
> [Semantic Slash], [Syntax Bomb], [Debate Lock]
She gasped as shimmering glyphs curled around her fingers. Her lips moved, mouthing syntax strings as if translating the fabric of reality itself. "Oh gods, it's parsing live context. This shouldn't be possible."
Oren's screen unfolded like a pop-up book on fire:
> SYSTEM: H.U.M.O.R. — (Hyper-Utilization Mechanic of Obnoxious Retorts)
> [Sarcasm threshold exceeded. Unlocking Passive Skill: Witty Reprisal.]
His stat panel blinked:
[HP: 410/410] [MP: 160/160] [CHA: 72] [DEX: 68]
He flared his fingers theatrically. "I knew my snark would save us one day. Watch this: 'Hey plot—did someone forget their climax?'"
Lightning flickered above him.
"Okay, that's new."
Mira's visor fused with her new HUD as a low robotic voice whispered:
> [SYSTEM: V.I.S.A.G.E. — (Visually Integrated System for Analytical Geometries and Extrapolation)]
> [Warning: 42 Unresolved Visual Metaphors. Booting Skill: Frame Skip.]
Her stats flickered into sight:
[HP: 300/300] [MP: 290/290] [PER: 99] [AGI: 74]
She blinked rapidly, each moment layering like intercut film. Her perception was fracturing into frames-per-thought.
"I can see probability," she whispered, half terrified.
Bryn's interface booted with a harsh chime and a red warning banner:
> [SYSTEM: C.L.I.P. — (Combat Language Interface Protocol)]
> [Aggression parameters normalized. Initiating Battle Grammar Tree.]
[HP: 460/460] [MP: 180/180] [STR: 88] [GRM: 70]
The punctuation on her gauntlets gleamed. With a cry, she slammed her fist into a nearby wall, and the stone shattered with a cascading ellipsis crunch.
"I just used a semicolon to break reality. Gods help us."
Juno, of course, got nothing.
She tilted her head. "...I don't get one?"
A pause.
Then:
> SYSTEM: NULL
> That which does not conform cannot be categorized. Perk Gained: [Undefined Exception]
[HP: ???/???] [MP: ???/???] — Her panel refused to display normal values.
"Oh. That tracks," she said with a small shrug. A halo of broken code circled her feet.
Suddenly, the library groaned. Arcs of glitching light surged through the shelves. Phantom echoes of themselves flickered nearby, hollow doppelgängers formed from incomplete plotlines and unrealized decisions.
> ALERT: Encounter Initiated — Rooted Echoes
The ground split. The air distorted. Each of them now stood opposite a spectral version of themselves. Again!
Rafael's echo smirked. "You should've rewritten us when you had the chance."
"I tried!" Rafael snapped, drawing his glaive from his Source-Thread.
[Skill: Editorial Sweep triggered, launching a wave of typographic force.]
Mira blink-stepped away from a mirrored version of herself. "She's predicting my movements!"
> [Skill: Montage Fracture]
Glass-panes of alternate fates shattered midair.
Oren ducked a pun from his duplicate. "Did you just call me a grammar mistake?"
> [Skill: Counterpun]
Lira screamed back at her echo in thirteen languages. Syntax glyphs clashed in the air like battling operas.
Bryn growled. "Enough exposition!"
> [Skill: Run-on Rampage]
Juno stood motionless. Her echo bowed.
"I am you—but whole."
"I am me—but broken." She smirked. "Let's dance in the ellipsis."
Battle erupted. Textual constructs shattered. Font storms howled. Em-dashes sliced air like blades. Stat windows blinked wildly:
> [Critical Hit: Lira dealt 512 Damage (Metaphor Overload)!]
> [Miss! Oren's Quip failed: Too Obvious.]
> [Frame Skip: Mira dodged 3 attacks. Countering in 0.3s.]
> [Undefined Exception: Effect cannot be parsed. Applying Chaos.]
Each internal monologue blurred into the battlefield:
— [I have to prove this arc matters.]
— [If this is the rewrite, then I'm writing it with fists.]
— [Don't let the echo be louder than the original.]
As they fought, the Anchor pulsed again.
> [GLOBAL UPDATE: RPG Integration Recovered. All systems online. Prepare for Meta-Stabilization Event.]
Rafael, panting, stood amid fragments of his echo. "We're not just characters anymore..."
"We're variables," Mira said, leveling her HUD on the horizon.
"And they've just been declared."
***