“This is… a [Story]? Where’s the story?”

  John frowned, flipping through the blank pages of what appeared to be a book. It was a leatherback, bound with string. There were dozens like it in this gigantic library. Over a dozen floors tall, countless bookshelves lining each floor, holding empty slots for potentially millions of books.

  That was the problem, though. Most of the slots were empty. Had they been full, though, there would’ve been enough content to keep one occupied for millennia, filled with stories that existed only in this library.

  John needed to find them. He could rest when this library was full once more.

  The library of the [Home] dimension. The pocket dimension that belonged to him and him alone. He’d been here for who knew how long, learning things he’d need to know for the upcoming journey. It was boring, but it was way better than floating around in a void.

  “Well, the pages are blank so you don’t get spoiled. Why would you want to spoil yourself?”

  This came from Zero, who was freely roaming the library. It annoyed John, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He just stood up, sighed, and put the book away. Despite his annoyance, though, his eyes had a spark to them, like he was going to do something mischievous. His mouth had a smile that, while small, was quite genuine.

  It was strange, though. They looked the same. Well, aside from the fact that Zero was monochrome in colour, of course. Their smile, the light in their eyes, the look of a person who enjoyed life for what it was. It was present in both their faces, and as a result, they were like two peas in a pod.

  John cleared his throat.

  “Ok. Let me get this straight. The world I’m about to enter is a [Story]. Like, a whole ass novel, one that isn’t supposed to include me. And this version of the [Story] I’m entering has some of my missing memories.”

  “Correct.”

  “That’s all? That’s it?”

  “What?” Zero didn’t quite understand what John was getting at.

  “So, what? If I interact with things, will I change what happens? Butterfly effect and all that? Shouldn’t I be a little worried?”

  Zero shrugged. “Well, yeah. Normally, changing the plot would fuck you up. Huge headache, knocked unconscious for a day, stuff like that. But, well, this is why you shouldn’t be spoiled. It stops all that from happening, and you don’t get hurt.”

  “I think I’d rather take the pain and know what’s coming next.”

  “Too bad!” Zero said cheerfully. “You don’t get a choice.”

  “Great,” John mumbled. “And is there a reason my memories have been spread across multiple of these [Stories]?”

  Zero nodded. “The [Author] just wants to write more, I guess.”

  John stopped what he was doing and stared. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Nope! I mean, you’re not just gonna wait around. There’s stuff for you to do in these worlds. Each one will be a whole adventure, you know? It’ll be fun!”

  “Wonderful.”

  John got up and walked out of the library, passing through a door into what seemed to be a regular cottage home. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, taking a deep drink before turning back to his soul.

  “Ok, let me get this clear. In order to move through dimensions, I need [Deus Ex Machina] power, which is the power I get from recovering my memories. Mind going over that one more time?”

  Zero nodded. “You know what a [Deus Ex Machina] is, right?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “The energy is exactly that. In your case, it’s granting you the power of a [Writer]. The power to manipulate the story itself, to alter whatever you want. You are literally writing the [Story] while existing inside of it. You are, well, the machine, and the energy is the god inside you. It’s the god in the machine.”

  John leaned forward, eyes wide. “Hold on a minute, isn’t that-”

  “A little too strong? Yeah. It’s kinda like a child trying to claim that their imaginary character is stronger because they said so. Does it make you undefeatable? Yeah, basically. But then again, the [Writer] is the one who gets to decide the victor, and that’s essentially what you’re doing.”

  “Great,” John grumbled, leaning back.

  “Don’t worry. It’s not that strong. The energy is hard to come by, and there are complications to it. Like, you need a certain amount to perform certain actions. Plus, the energy is a consumable, you know?”

  John motioned for Zero to continue. “And this means…”

  “It means you don’t get it back once you use it.”

  “Just amazing,” John nodded. “And, what? Do I lose my memories if I use this energy of mine?”

  “Did you lose your memories the last time you used your powers?”

  “...no.”

  “Question answered!”

  John frowned. “Hold on, that doesn’t make any sense. The energy is tied to the memories, but it doesn’t use the memories themselves?”

  Zero shrugged. “Think of it like batteries. The memories are the batteries. [Deus Ex Machina] energy is the power that comes with the batteries. Once you use the energy, you still have the physical battery; it’s just lost its charge. You keep the memories, not the power that comes with them.”

  John just sighed, walking out the back door, sitting on a lawn chair. Before him was a cliff, and beyond that, a sparkling blue ocean. He looked at the sunset casting its golden rays across the water, a warm breeze blowing across his face.

  “And why does this power come along with my memories?”

  “I explained this, didn’t I? John, you’re part [Writer],” Zero said. “Your identity as a [Writer] exists in these memories of yours. Therefore, your powers as a [Writer] also lie there.”

  “Then wouldn’t it make sense for me to be able to use more and more [Deus Ex Machina] energy as I go along?” John frowned. “Instead of this weird system where I get an expendable resource?”

  Zero shrugged. “Take it up with the [Author]. Oh wait. You can’t! Too bad! Just deal with it, dude.”

  John grumbled, closing his eyes. He still had questions, but he was well aware they wouldn’t be answered. Well, he’d gotten most of what he wanted to learn out of the way.

  “By the way, you’re not a little… distracted?” Zero frowned. “You know. With all those memories swirling around in your head. I know we’ve been here for a while, but… you know. You haven’t asked about it.”

  “It is a little noisy,” John admitted. “But what am I supposed to do about it?”

  “Reach into your head.”

  John just stared at Zero.

  “You want me to what now?”

  “Try it. Just think of a memory you want to remove, then reach into your head. For example, uh… think of this explanation. All this energy stuff.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  John was doubtful, but he did as his soul said. To his surprise, a leatherbound book came out, and as he flipped through the pages, it contained a retelling of their entire conversation in a third-person perspective, like reading a chapter from a book.

  “This is… a [Story]? Where’s the story?”

  John frowned, flipping through the blank pages of what appeared to be a book. It was a leatherback, bound with string. There were dozens like it in this gigantic library. Over a dozen floors tall, countless bookshelves lining each floor, holding empty slots for potentially millions of books.

  That was enough for him. He flipped the book shut and stared at it. He felt a little dizzy, though, and for good reason.

  “I have a vague memory of this conversation happening,” he said, staring at the cover with wide eyes. “Like, I remember that we had this conversation. But I can’t remember the specifics.”

  Zero chuckled. “Now, try to recall it. Just try really hard to remember it. It’s easy.”

  John squeezed his eyes shut, focusing intently, and the book turned to light in his hands, floating back into his head.

  “I- what the fuck?!” John gasped, almost falling out of his chair. “That feels weird as hell.”

  Zero nodded understandingly. “It’ll come in handy eventually. This skill, I mean. You’ll see.”

  The two sat there in silence for a bit, allowing themselves a short break.

  “So. You ready to go in?”

  At that question, John started fidgeting. He didn’t want to think about this. He’d been so distracted learning about his powers, about [Story] terms, but now, he had to face the music.

  “I mean, you were gonna have to decide eventually. You either need to accept it or reject it,” Zero warned. “But you can’t go in while you’re on the fence.”

  John shook his head, suddenly nervous.

  “It still feels weird. Amber. Lance. I… I can’t see them as family anymore. As friends. I want to. But I can’t. They seemed real. But… they weren’t, right?”

  Zero sighed. “John.”

  “I don’t- it feels weird, Zero. They’re- they’re [Characters]. They’re not real. I don’t- I don’t get it. What happened to what we had? To everything we did? Why did I do all that for- for people I’ll never see again? No, not people, they’re not real, I mean- what?”

  His voice started to become anxious, his breath quickening as the panic made its way to his head. He’d been putting it off for too long. The anxiety had been building up. He’d been suppressing knowledge for too long, knowledge that had been forcefully fed to him.

  Now, he either had to accept it as the truth or reject it and call it a lie.

  “John. There is no right or wrong answer. Just decide and push forward with whatever decision you make.”

  Zero’s voice was solemn. Calm. It had the right effect, because John’s panic episode soon passed. Tears began to well up in John’s eyes, and he tried to blink them away, but he couldn’t suppress the emotion he was feeling.

  He was scared. And there was no easy way out for him.

  The soul put his hand on John’s shoulder and looked at him sadly.

  “You’ll learn everything eventually. But for now… treat [Characters] the way you want to. The way you best see fit.”

  John took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Something stirred in his mind, and he reached up and pulled a book out of his head. When his eyes opened, they were dull. They lacked the shine they once had. He opened the book and began to read.

  Zero remained silent as his physical body flipped through the pages. As soon as he was done, he put the book aside. He opened his hand, and a metal chain floated down into it.

  “Zero.” John started wrapping the book up, sealing it shut. “Do me a favour?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Never let me put this book back in my head. Keep it as a book. I’ll remember it as a [Story]. Not memories. A [Story]. Nothing more. It was just a book I read. Maybe, if I just think of it as a foolish project, a work of passion, a story I wrote for fun…”

  John stood up, throwing his hood up. He reached out, the wind picking up as a portal formed before him.

  “Then it’ll always be fiction to me. The feeling that I personally went through all that will linger, but it’ll feel fake. It was just a [Story]- no, not a [Story]. A story. Nothing more.”

  “Are you sure?” Zero frowned. “John, think this over.”

  “No. I know I should miss Amber. Lance. The others. There’s a small part of me that still remembers them. There’s still a little bit of me that wants to meet them again, I guess, but I suppose I can’t get rid of that. But in the end, they’re just [Characters] in a [Story], right?”

  “John-”

  “You told me to make a choice, Zero. I won’t make the mistakes I did last time.”

  The words implied bitterness, sadness, something of the sort, but there was none of that.

  All that remained was an empty void.

  “...why? At least tell me that. Why did you make this decision?”

  John shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? The less I think of them, the less I’m reminded of what I lost. The less I think of what could’ve been, what I could’ve had. If I forget about all that, then… well, I can pretend it never happened.”

  “But-”

  “It didn’t happen. It’s a story. It’s fake. And that’s good enough for me.”

  “...fine. I did tell you to make a choice. If this is what you want, then I’ll support you. Just one last warning. Your memories, they’re still here. Just because they’re not in your head doesn’t mean you don’t have them.”

  “Your point?”

  “If something happens, something powerful enough to trigger your memory, this book will come back regardless of your will. Say, I don’t know, you see Amber or something. For a moment, you’ll relive everything. It’ll leave you after the moment passes, but for the moment, well… you get it. I just- I thought I’d warn you.”

  John laughed. “Great, so you’re proposing a scenario that’ll never happen. I don’t need to be worried then, right? It’s fine. I don’t care.”

  Zero didn’t criticize. He didn’t try to convince John to do otherwise. He just accepted John’s decision for what it was. He just had one last question.

  “John. It’s just… your feelings. You’ve lost every connection to any [Character] you’ve ever met, and potentially any [Character] you’ll ever meet. They’re nothing but fictional beings to you now. Any sympathy you once had for them is gone. Don’t you want to feel something? Anything? Come on, don’t you want to see them as more than fiction?”

  John snorted in amusement.

  “Why? What’s the point?”

  He took one last look at his home before turning back to the portal.

  “Oh. Best if I remove this, too.”

  He reached into his head one last time and pulled out a book, tossing it over to Zero. The soul understood John’s intention. This was to be wrapped in chains as well. Before he did so, though, Zero wanted to see what was in it.

  The soul’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh… I understand.”

  Inside was the conversation they’d just had. He looked back up to see John, one foot already through the portal. He motioned for his soul to follow.

  “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  ~~~

  John shook his head, momentarily dazed. A sense of forgetfulness washed over him. Something about his time in the [Home] dimension, a conversation with Zero… but they’d had tons of those. Why was he thinking of this now? And what had the conversation been about?

  He shook his head. It wasn’t important. He just had to press on, as he always did.