EMERGENCY SPECIAL CHAPTER
YOU'RE NEVER GONNA BELIEVE THIS.
...
SPECIAL CHAPTERS
WERE CLOSED.
That had been made
very clear.
A few months.
No questions.
No interruptions.
No GAAFATAA.
...
At least...
that was the agreement.
...
Somewhere outside the story...
THE AUTHOR
was reading.
Nothing unusual.
Writers talking.
Readers talking.
Stories being shared.
Then someone said:
"Big interconnected worlds
that feel good
and well thought out
and lived in
are super difficult."
...
The Author smiled.
A nice comment.
A completely normal comment.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing that should have
affected anything.
...
Except—
SCRATCH.
...
The Author froze.
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...
SCRATCH.
...
"No."
...
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
...
A page appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
...
THE AUTHOR:
"You're supposed
to be gone."
...
Silence.
...
Then...
GAAFATAA:
"Excuse me?"
...
The Author closed his eyes.
...
GAAFATAA appeared
holding several pages.
He looked...
offended.
Deeply offended.
...
THE AUTHOR:
"What are you doing here?"
GAAFATAA:
"What am I doing here?"
...
He pointed somewhere
beyond the page.
...
"WHO SAID THAT?"
...
THE AUTHOR:
"A reader."
...
GAAFATAA:
"A READER?"
...
"Yes."
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the sentence again.
...
"Big interconnected worlds..."
He read further.
"...that feel good..."
"...well thought out..."
"...and lived in..."
"...are super difficult."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA slowly turned
toward the Author.
...
"Super difficult."
THE AUTHOR:
"Yes."
...
"SUPER."
"DIFFICULT."
...
"That's what they said."
...
GAAFATAA stared at him.
Then...
he started laughing.
...
Not because
something was funny.
It was the laugh
of someone
who had just discovered
that reality itself
had personally insulted him.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Oh."
"Oh, that's beautiful."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Don't."
...
GAAFATAA:
"No."
"No, no."
"Bring them here."
...
"What?"
...
"THE READER."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Absolutely not."
...
GAAFATAA threw
the pages onto the table.
"DO YOU KNOW
HOW MANY QUESTIONS
I HAVE BECAUSE OF
YOUR 'INTERCONNECTED WORLD'?"
...
The Author said nothing.
...
GAAFATAA:
"SAFSAN."
SCRATCH.
"NAFSAN."
SCRATCH.
"KAIRO."
SCRATCH.
"SEENEE."
SCRATCH.
"REALITY BOOK."
SCRATCH.
"REALITY DOOR."
SCRATCH.
"SIRNA ANCHOR."
SCRATCH.
"INFINITE SIRNA MULTIVERSES."
SCRATCH.
"THE FUTURE."
SCRATCH.
"THE PAST."
SCRATCH.
"AND NOW..."
...
He stopped.
...
His eyes narrowed.
...
"PARADOX."
...
The Author looked away.
...
GAAFATAA:
"LOOK AT ME."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"No."
...
"LOOK AT ME."
...
"No."
...
"YOU KNOW EXACTLY
WHY I SAID PARADOX."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA pointed
toward the reader's comment.
"And this person..."
"...this innocent person..."
"...comes along..."
"...and says building
an interconnected world
is difficult?"
...
He placed both hands
on the table.
...
"THEY DON'T KNOW."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Gaafataa."
...
"THEY HAVE NO IDEA."
...
"GAAFATAA."
...
"THEY THINK
YOU'RE BUILDING
A WORLD."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA slowly looked
toward the audience.
...
"He's not building
a world."
...
The Author immediately stood.
"Okay."
...
"He's building—"
...
THE AUTHOR:
"CHAPTER OVER."
...
GAAFATAA froze.
...
"What?"
...
"Chapter over."
...
"No."
...
"Yes."
...
"I WAS TALKING."
...
"I noticed."
...
The pages
began closing.
...
THUMP.
...
GAAFATAA grabbed one.
"WAIT."
...
THUMP.
...
"YOU CAN'T KEEP
DOING THIS."
...
THUMP.
...
"I AM LITERALLY
THE QUESTIONER."
...
THUMP.
...
"THERE IS A READER
OUT THERE
WHO UNDERSTANDS MY PAIN."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"They wished me good luck."
...
GAAFATAA stopped.
...
"They did?"
...
"Yes."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA slowly sat down.
...
"Oh."
...
A pause.
...
"That's actually nice."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Yes."
...
GAAFATAA looked toward
the unseen reader.
...
Then nodded.
...
"Good luck
with your story too."
...
The Author smiled.
...
Finally.
Peace.
...
Then GAAFATAA
slowly turned back.
...
"But seriously..."
...
The Author's smile disappeared.
...
GAAFATAA:
"About that paradox—"
...
THUMP.
...
The final page slammed shut.
...
Silence.
...
Then...
from somewhere
inside the closed chapter:
"AUTHOR!"
...
...
EMERGENCY SPECIAL CHAPTER
CLOSED.
AGAIN.
...
SPECIAL CHAPTERS
WILL RETURN
IN A FEW MONTHS.
...
PROBABLY.
...
SCRATCH.