The studio was quiet at dawn.
Most of the crew hadn't arrived yet, but Elian was already at Sector B. He stood alone before Room 17-B, the strange door that had appeared yesterday during the system-triggered rewrite. Chains still bound the handles, and the padlock gleamed like a challenge.
He wasn't filming today.
Not officially.
"System," he muttered, "this echo… what will I see if I enter?"
[ (System Notice)
Entering a Persistent Anchor may lead to:
– Narrative Overlap with memory fragments
– Emotional feedback loops
– Unscripted content exposure
Do you still wish to proceed?
➤ [Yes] [No] ]
He didn't hesitate.
He tapped Yes.
---
[Location: Room 17-B – Interior]
The lock clicked open with a sound too clean to belong to rusted metal.
As Elian stepped through, his vision shimmered.
The corridor behind him faded, replaced by flickering film grain, like walking into a reel mid-projection. The room inside was dimly lit, its corners soft and unfocused — as if reality itself wasn't finished rendering.
And at the center sat a wooden crate.
Just like the one from his memory.
And sitting atop it…
"Karan?"
The boy turned around.
Same messy hair. Same old shirt.
But there was something… hollow about him. As if he were only part of the real Karan.
"You're late," Karan said simply, as if they'd just spoken yesterday.
"I… didn't know how to come back."
"You promised you'd remember."
Elian stepped closer. "I did."
"Then why didn't you write me in sooner?"
That question hit harder than expected.
He thought of all the scripts he'd written since arriving in this world. All the clever ideas. The emotional scenes. But never once had he tried to remember someone by name.
It hadn't been fear. It had been avoidance.
And now the system had forced it to surface.
"I'm sorry."
Karan's eyes glinted.
"I don't want an apology. I want a role."
---
[POV: System - Internal Logic Layer]
[ File Access: (Subject - Karan)
Role: Supporting Fragment (Emotional Anchor)
Personality Pattern: Adaptive / Stable
Narrative Integration: 27%
Risk Level: Medium ]
[ System Override Request Detected. ]
Elian Sol has initiated Fragment Merge:
[ Requesting Karan to appear as a character in the current project.
Confirm Merge?
➤ [Yes]. ]
---
Back in the room, Elian knelt.
"You're right," he said. "You deserve a story."
He pulled out his tablet, fingers moving across the screen as he rewrote a segment of the upcoming script. It was supposed to be a generic flashback. Now, it had a new character — a boy who guides the protagonist through a maze of old memories.
Elian saved the file.
A gust of wind passed through the room.
The projection shimmered.
Karan stood up from the crate. "So what happens next?"
Elian smiled. "Next? We shoot your scene."
---
[Later That Day – Set Location: Sector A, Soundstage Two]
Shaan looked confused as Elian explained the new scene.
"Wait. You want to cast a new child actor… today? And shoot this mystical memory maze thing before the rooftop fight scene?"
Elian nodded. "Trust me. It'll tie everything together thematically."
Shaan sighed. "This better not delay the fight scene."
Arya looked over the script. Her eyes lingered on the boy's dialogue.
"This kid… he reminds me of someone."
Elian simply replied, "He's someone I once forgot."
---
They found a child actor with a similar look — someone quiet but expressive. Elian directed him gently, offering small notes, mimicking how he once worked with Karan.
The actor nailed every line.
But in the playback, something unusual happened.
In one frame, during a close-up… the child's eye color shifted. Briefly.
From brown to a warm golden tint.
Karan's color.
Just one frame.
But it was enough.
---
[POV: Miraal – Watching From Afar]
From a distance, Miraal watched Elian work with the child actor. She noticed the way he spoke to him — not like a director to an actor, but like someone speaking to a friend long gone.
She picked up the latest script revision and flipped to the memory maze scene.
The child's lines were simple, yet carried strange weight.
"If you remember me… I'm still here.
But if you forget… I become only words."
She closed the script and whispered, "Who are you really writing for, Elian?"
---
[End of Shooting – Midnight]
The final shot of the day wrapped just before midnight. Everyone was packing up. Elian remained seated on a prop bench near the editing monitors.
He played the footage of the memory maze again.
At the end of the scene, the boy disappears into a doorway of light.
The child actor had stepped out on cue.
But the system had rendered an extra shadow—just behind him. A second pair of footsteps. Almost imperceptible.
"Was that… him?" Elian murmured.
[System Notice]
[ Fragment Merge Successful
Karan is now part of the narrative.
Note: "Memory Anchors may still influence future rewrites." ]
[ Bonus Trait Gained: Narrative Binding – Past and Present Can Collide When Emotionally Justified
• Warning: Emotional Load Threshold Approaching Critical
Consider offloading suppressed memory events soon. ]
Elian leaned back and closed his eyes.
This was only the beginning.