Elias’s finger hovered over the mouse. He should close it. This was stupid. A creepy pasta. A prank by some bored hacker with a taste for psychological horror.
RECENT QUERY FROM KAELEN (UNCONSCIOUS): "WHY WON'T HE LET ME REST? WHY MUST I ALWAYS FIGHT?"
Elias stared at the blinking cursor.
ELIAS: [CURRENT STATUS: OBSERVING. EMOTION: FEAR. SECONDARY EMOTION: RECOGNITION.]
WARNING: NARRATIVE RECURSION DETECTED.
He thought of Kaelen, who had never once complained. Who had carried his grief, his rage, his longing for a love that never existed. Who had fought forty-seven battles for a god who typed him into existence and then closed the laptop when the real world got too loud.
The lorebook expanded.
KAELEN: TRAITS - BRAVE, CYNICAL, RESILIENT, UNBURDENED (DEF: FREE FROM THE WEIGHT OF ONE'S OWN UNEXAMINED LIFE).