【𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃】

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞_𝟎𝟎 [𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲.]

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I don't remember much. It all started a long time ago... I think. I don't know. My perception of time has long since faded away, as have most of my memories. I remember snow. A lot of it. A blizzard from beyond the warm inside of a small home. My home... 

It was... Christmas Eve... I think. I was by my lonesome, the heavy snowstorm outside blocking me from leaving, or anyone from entering. I never quite forgot the warmth of the fire that crackled inside of the fireplace... 

I wish I could feel that warmth again...

I didn't receive much, but I don't think it mattered to me at that time. A few boxes and fancy handbags here and there, hiding gifts behind their decorative straps. One box stood out. It was large. Heavy. 

I found a headset inside of it. I was an idiot, probably high off of the eggnog because I plugged that bad boy in without so much as reading the instructions. The worst mistake of my life... should've read the EULA...

And from there, the world I knew changed forever. I didn't like it. Nobody did. But, there was nothing I could do about it, and neither could they. At the very least, I was not alone. A digital landscape so far detached from common sense that I started to think logic was a far-fetched dream. 

I forgot my real name. 

So, the ringmaster gave me a new one. Through lottery and based on my appearance in this digital hellscape, I was given the name...

...

...

...

Calypso.

I didn't know why, but it sounded... familiar. Apparently, it seemed to fit my "character" quite well, whatever that meant. 

I wasn't human, sure didn't look like one either. Sharp teeth. Bright, glowing crimson eyes with white pupils... a puppet-like body that felt like it was being moved by a string... I felt... out of character... heh.

I quickly found out that there was no way to leave. I couldn't take off the headset. There was no menu screen. Nothing... just me... this 64-bit digital world... and those who were unfortunate enough to end up in the same situation as me.

I try to remember, but I can't, their names, their faces... all faded into static and mismatched imagery with time. Very few lasted long enough for me to get close to them, to call them real friends...

But nothing is built to last. Not this world. Not my real body... and certainly not our fragile minds. 

I've watched as they fell into insanity, and with a little bit of time... became monsters. They had no conscience. No cognitive thought running through their shattered minds anymore. All they had was cold hate. An insatiable vengeful desire to destroy everything... and everyone. 

I did what I could. Really. I tried... I did my best... but not even my best was enough... and I was alone... for a time. 

Then... fresh meat arrived. I was starting to think this was hell. A vaguely disguised Satan's playground to destroy our sanity. I may have lost it a couple of times... maybe I never got it back...

I stopped being able to understand for some time, being nothing more than an empty puppet on a string. But, even my depraved mind was nothing more than a snap away from the ringmaster to fix.

I tried to help. But it didn't matter. No matter what I did, how much I tried, they all faded away into the empty bliss.

Why? 

I don't know. I used to sing and dance to keep myself sane...

Now...

Even those happy times are nothing but a burning memory.

Answers are scarce. 

Dopamine is the only cure.

There is no exit.

Abandon hope.

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This is gonna hurt. But I'm all for it. Are you ready to experience trauma not quite on the level of Houseki no Kuni but not far behind? Prepare your tissues and a blanket, because we are going on a hell of a ride!