THE READERS TOOK MY JOB
SCRATCH.
...
THE CLASSROOM.
...
Peace.
...
Finally.
...
The signs were down.
The chairs
were back in place.
Nobody was screaming
PARADOX.
...
Nobody was demanding
ANSWERS FIRST.
...
Nobody was throwing
pieces of chalk.
...
The strike...
was over.
...
Mostly.
...
GAAFATAA stood
at the front
of the classroom.
...
He looked exhausted.
...
"Okay."
...
"We have reached
an agreement."
...
Someone raised a hand.
...
"Are we getting
vacation rights?"
...
GAAFATAA:
"We agreed
not to discuss that."
...
The hand went down.
...
Another person:
"What about answers?"
...
"No."
...
"Paradox?"
...
"No."
...
"Nafsan?"
...
"No."
...
"The year?"
...
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA breathed out.
...
"Good."
...
"We are calm."
...
"We are reasonable."
...
"We are going
to stop turning
every sentence
into seventeen theories."
...
A paper appeared
on his desk.
...
GAAFATAA stopped.
...
"No."
...
He hadn't even
read it yet.
...
"No."
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
...
Someone:
"What is it?"
...
GAAFATAA looked down.
...
At the top:
THE CURIOSITY TRAP:
A THEORY FROM
A LOST READER
...
GAAFATAA stared.
...
Then read:
"May God help us
and those who click
on this story
out of curiosity..."
...
His eyebrow moved.
...
"...because there is
no returning
from this trap."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA continued.
...
"We are just
like JHARAA—
we entered this dimension
by mistake,
and now
we are stuck
in the Author's web."
...
...
GAAFATAA slowly
lowered the paper.
...
"Finally."
...
Someone:
"What?"
...
"Someone understands."
...
He continued reading.
...
The reader believed
Nafsan's position
in the timeline
might not be
what everyone assumed.
...
They connected
SEENEE checking the year...
BAAČ...
Safsan being eighteen...
Nafsan not yet being born...
and the classroom
falling into chaos.
...
Then came
another theory.
...
THE TEMPTED.
THE ADVISOR.
...
Maybe their disappearance
from NO NAME
wasn't merely
because they had been fired.
...
Maybe something
had happened to them
because of the future.
...
GAAFATAA stopped.
...
"No."
...
The classroom waited.
...
GAAFATAA:
"I'm not answering that."
...
Someone:
"Why?"
...
"Because I enjoy
being alive."
...
He continued.
...
Then he reached
the reader's final theory.
...
GAAFATAA'S
TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT:
THE READERS.
...
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA read it again.
...
Then once more.
...
Slowly...
he looked
at the classroom.
...
"No."
...
Someone laughed.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Absolutely not."
...
Another person:
"It makes sense."
...
"NO IT DOESN'T."
...
"You were told
you influence readers."
...
"THAT DOESN'T MEAN
THEY GET MY JOB."
...
Someone:
"They're already
asking the questions."
...
GAAFATAA froze.
...
...
He looked
back at the paper.
...
Then toward
the invisible boundary
between story...
and reader.
...
His eyes narrowed.
...
"Stay away
from my employment."
...
SCRATCH.
...
Another paper
appeared.
...
GAAFATAA:
"WHAT NOW?"
...
He looked down.
...
THREE QUESTIONS
FOR THE AUTHOR
(SINCE GAAFATAA
IS ON VACATION)
...
...
The classroom
became silent.
...
Very...
very...
slowly...
GAAFATAA raised
his head.
...
"I'm not
on vacation."
...
Someone:
"You were."
...
"IT WAS CANCELLED."
...
He grabbed the paper.
...
"And who exactly
said you could
take over my job?!"
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the three questions.
...
Then smiled.
...
"Fine."
...
He pulled
his chair forward.
...
"THE AUTHOR
is working."
...
"So..."
...
He sat down.
...
"...I'll answer."
...
A pause.
...
"As much
as I'm allowed to."
...
QUESTION ONE.
...
THE CAUSALITY LOOP.
...
"If JHARAA
and NOLLVEIL
entered BAAČ
looking for Nafsan
before Nafsan
has even been born..."
...
"...could their intervention
become part
of what eventually
creates the future
they are trying to stop?"
...
GAAFATAA stared
at the question.
...
Then...
"No."
...
Everyone froze.
...
GAAFATAA smiled.
...
"I don't mean
the theory is wrong."
...
"I mean..."
...
"...I'm not answering it."
...
Groans.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Listen carefully."
...
"You have assumed
that the relationship
between those events
works in a particular
direction."
...
He picked up his pen.
...
PAST
→
FUTURE
...
Then underneath:
FUTURE
→
PAST
...
Then...
he drew a question mark
between them.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Interesting."
...
"That's all
you're getting."
...
Someone:
"That's not an answer."
...
GAAFATAA:
"Now you understand
my job."
...
...
QUESTION TWO.
...
THE MISSING UNEMPLOYED.
...
"If THE TEMPTED
and THE ADVISOR
were fired..."
...
"...were they erased?"
...
"Or did future Nafsan
already hunt them
outside the timeline?"
...
GAAFATAA immediately
put the paper down.
...
"No."
...
Someone:
"Again?"
...
"This one
I can actually
help with."
...
He pointed
at the question.
...
"Do not assume
'fired'
means
'erased from existence.'"
...
A pause.
...
"And do not assume
NAFSAN
every time somebody
is missing."
...
Someone:
"Then where were they?"
...
GAAFATAA stared.
...
"You should read
NAFSAN STORY'S
SPECIAL CHAPTER."
...
A pause.
...
"Apparently..."
...
"...they were trying
to get my job."
...
His expression darkened.
...
"Which I am still
offended by."
...
Someone:
"So they weren't erased?"
...
GAAFATAA:
"You've already seen
them somewhere else."
...
"That's all
I'm saying."
...
...
QUESTION THREE.
...
SAFSAN'S IGNORANCE.
...
GAAFATAA read slowly.
...
"If Safsan
doesn't remember
the black chains..."
...
"...and Ayla's
Reality Book
can change
when history changes..."
...
"...could the history
where Safsan used
that power
be actively rewritten
while he walks
through BAAČ?"
...
...
GAAFATAA stopped.
...
The classroom
became completely silent.
...
He read
the question again.
...
Then...
he smiled.
...
"Oh."
...
Someone:
"What?"
...
GAAFATAA:
"Nothing."
...
"WHAT DOES 'OH' MEAN?!"
...
GAAFATAA:
"I learned that
from SEENEE."
...
He placed
the paper down.
...
Then looked
toward the readers.
...
"Here's what
I can tell you."
...
"Yes."
...
"A Reality Book
can change
when the history
it records
has actually changed."
...
A pause.
...
"But..."
...
GAAFATAA raised
one finger.
...
"That fact alone
does not prove
that Safsan's history
is currently
being rewritten."
...
Silence.
...
"Safsan not remembering
something..."
...
"...and a Reality Book
being capable
of updating history..."
...
"...are two facts."
...
He leaned forward.
...
"The reader connected them."
...
A smile.
...
"Maybe beautifully."
...
"Maybe terribly."
...
"Maybe correctly."
...
"Maybe completely wrong."
...
Someone:
"Which?"
...
GAAFATAA:
"?????"
...
The classroom erupted.
...
"COME ON!"
...
"THAT'S CHEATING!"
...
"ANSWER IT!"
...
GAAFATAA laughed.
...
"THE STRIKE
IS OVER."
...
Someone immediately
lifted the old sign:
WE ARE ON STRIKE.
...
GAAFATAA:
"PUT THAT DOWN."
...
...
Eventually...
the room
became quiet again.
...
GAAFATAA looked
at both messages.
...
The theory.
...
The questions.
...
Then...
the compliment.
...
"You are three steps
ahead of everyone,
Seeneessa."
...
GAAFATAA smiled.
...
"Three steps?"
...
He looked somewhere
beyond the classroom.
...
Toward...
THE AUTHOR.
...
His smile disappeared.
...
"No."
...
He shook his head.
...
"After what
I saw in
THE AUTHOR'S CORE..."
...
A pause.
...
"...stop counting steps."
...
Silence.
...
Someone:
"Why?"
...
GAAFATAA:
"Because I did."
...
"And look
what happened to me."
...
He looked again
at the reader's words.
...
THE MISSING PIECE
ISN'T THE ANSWER...
IT'S THE QUESTION.
...
For once...
GAAFATAA didn't joke.
...
He simply nodded.
...
"Now THAT..."
...
"...is a sentence
I respect."
...
He picked up his pen.
...
Then wrote:
THE READER'S THEORY
≠
THE AUTHOR'S ANSWER
...
Underneath:
BUT A GOOD QUESTION
IS NEVER WASTED.
...
...
GAAFATAA turned
toward the readers.
...
"You wanted
my job?"
...
A pause.
...
"Fine."
...
"Keep asking."
...
"But understand
something."
...
"A theory
can contain truth..."
...
"...and still reach
the wrong answer."
...
"A theory
can be completely wrong..."
...
"...and accidentally ask
the exact question
that matters."
...
He smiled.
...
"And sometimes..."
...
"...THE AUTHOR
shows you the answer
long before
you understand
what question
you were supposed
to ask."
...
...
SCRATCH.
...
SAFSAN STORY
SPECIAL CHAPTER
THE READERS TOOK MY JOB
...
THE STRIKE
IS OVER.
...
PROBABLY.
...
THE READERS
ARE NOW ASKING
GAAFATAA'S QUESTIONS.
...
THEORIES:
NOT CONFIRMED.
NOT DENIED.
...
THE TEMPTED
AND THE ADVISOR:
NOT ERASED
JUST BECAUSE
THEY WERE FIRED.
...
THE REALITY BOOK:
CAN RECORD
A CHANGED HISTORY.
...
DOES THAT EXPLAIN
SAFSAN?
...
?????
...
IS NAFSAN'S FUTURE
CREATING HIS PAST?
...
?????
...
WHO WILL REPLACE
GAAFATAA?
...
?????
...
GAAFATAA:
"And for the last time..."
...
"STOP TRYING
TO TAKE MY JOB."
...
A hand
rose in the classroom.
...
GAAFATAA:
"No."
...
"But I have
one question."
...
GAAFATAA closed
his eyes.
...
SCRATCH.
END.