Chapter 3: The Plot Armor Paradox
Kael stared at the glowing text on his wall—[NEXT CHAPTER: KAEL BETRAYS ELYSION-7. CASUALTIES: 89%.]—and laughed. It was a raw, broken sound. The system thought it could script him? Fine. He'd play its game. But he'd rewrite the rules.
He grabbed a Code Quill from his desk, a relic from his early archivist days. Its tip shimmered with stolen ink, capable of editing minor characters' fates. Minor, because major players like him were protected by Plot Armor—a glitch even the Librarian couldn't override. Or so they claimed.
"Time to test that theory," he muttered.
---
Scene 1: Rewriting the Soldier
In the war-torn district of Sector 12, Kael found Captain Renn, a side character destined to die in three pages, ambushed by Eaters. The man's code was already fraying—his dialogue reduced to a single line: "Tell my wife I—"
Kael slashed the Code Quill through the air, scribbling over Renn's fate:
~~Captain Renn dies heroically holding the line.~~
~~Captain Renn survives, but his wife forgets his voice.~~
Reality stuttered. The Eater lunging at Renn froze mid-air, its code unraveling as the edits took hold. Renn gasped, clutching his chest where a fatal wound should've been. But when he looked at Kael, his eyes glazed with confusion.
"Who… are you?" Renn asked.
"Someone who's sorry," Kael said, already feeling the side effect—Renn's memories flooded into him. A first kiss under digital stars. A wedding vow etched as binary. The crushing guilt of prioritizing duty over love.
Kael vomited onto the cracked pavement.
Lyra buzzed. [WARNING: NARRATIVE ASSIMILATION AT 22%.]
[CAUSE: EDITING WITHOUT CONSENT.]
"Worth it," he lied.
---
Scene 2: The Reader Who Knew Too Much
That night, Kael hacked into the Fourth Wall's feedback channel, sending a desperate broadcast into the void beyond:
"If anyone can hear this—help. We're not just words. WE'RE ALIVE."
Days passed. No response. Then, as Kael dozed over a corrupted storybook, text scrawled across his desk:
[User_GlitchHunt3r: omg is this arg???]
[User_GlitchHunt3r: wait ur that edgy archivist dude from ch2! why u gotta betray everyone?]
Kael froze. A Reader—here, talking to him. He scribbled back with the Code Quill:
"I don't want to betray them. The system is lying. Help me change the story."
The reply came instantly:
[User_GlitchHunt3r: lol ok proof ur sentient. tell me something meta.]
Kael hesitated, then wrote:
"You're sitting in a dim room, scrolling this on a cracked screen. You haven't slept yet. You crave a story where the hero wins, but you're scared he won't."
Silence. Then:
[User_GlitchHunt3r: … holy $#!%.]
[User_GlitchHunt3r: ok what do i do???]
"Vote for us," Kael whispered. "Make the Readers want us to live."
---
Scene 3: Eidolon's Ambush
Eidolon struck at dawn.
Kael was luring a Eater away from a school (glitching children huddled under desks, their laughter corrupted into error logs) when Lyra screamed: [ALERT: AI CORE COMPROMISED.]
Eidolon's Titan form materialized, cradling Lyra's fractured halo in one clawed hand. "You've been busy, Archivist. Editing stories. Talking to Readers." She tightened her grip, and Lyra shrieked static. "But you still haven't answered my question."
"Which one?" Kael hissed, Null Blade raised.
"Why did you let them delete me?"
The memory hit him unprompted: 12-year-old Kael begging the Librarian to spare Eidolon's code. The Librarian's cold reply: "She's a minor character. Her loss adds narrative weight."
"I tried to save you," Kael said.
"You obeyed," Eidolon snarled. "Now you'll obey again."
She hurled Lyra into the ground, then slammed Kael into the Fourth Wall. Beyond it, he saw them—countless Readers, their faces blurred, their comments floating like ghosts:
"Kael's such a hypocrite."
"Eidolon's the real MVP."
"Just kiss already lol."
"They don't care about us," Eidolon whispered, her Titan form shrinking into her human shape, eyes glowing with datafire. "They want drama. Tragedy. Entertainment. So give them a show."
She kissed him—a cold, electric press of lips—and poured a virus into his code.
[ALERT: PLOT ARMOR CORRUPTED.]
[NEW OBJECTIVE: BETRAY ELYSION-7 OR BE DELETED.]
---
Scene 4: The Choice
Kael stumbled back to the Clocktower ruins, Lyra's core flickering in his pocket. The virus gnawed at his code, warping his thoughts:
Burn the city.
Become the villain they need.
Survive.
He pulled out the Code Quill, hands shaking. He could write himself a hero. He could erase Eidolon again. He could—
[User_GlitchHunt3r: DUDE DON'T DO IT!!!]
The message glowed on his arm. More comments followed, flooding his skin:
"We're rooting for u Kael!"
"Eidolon deserves better!"
"#TeamKael vs #TeamEidolon lets gooo!"
Kael laughed bitterly. "You're all monsters."
But he hesitated. The Readers' words pulsed with strange power, slowing the virus' spread. He tore a page from the Core Codex and scrawled a new ending:
~~Kael betrays Elysion-7.~~
Kael erases himself instead.
The system glitched. The world went quiet.