" A glitch? "
Zoey raised her eyebrow.
Z looked a bit shifty and said, " Well, that's a strong word but it's also the right one, so... yeah."
Zoey stood with her arms crossed and her face cold.
" Explain."
Z cleared her throat and straightened herself up once again before rising from her chair.
" Well, I'll try and make this thorough for you, and anyone else reading this."
She took in a deep breath and looked upwards with her eyes shifting around as of searching for something in the air.
When it seems she found what she was looking for she spoke.
" Uhh, okay, okay. Let's start here.
You know how some novels are written in ink but some post them a chapter at a time on some digital setting?"
Zoey gave a slight nod.
" Okay, well, those, being digital, have the occasional, uh, accidents."
Zoey had sat back down in her chair with her interest starting to peak.
" For example, accidentally losing content. Not uploading. Various crashes in the system, etcetera, etcetera.
But this time, it was a bit different.
Now, remember this, and I'm going to bring up what you said about the original plot. "
Zoey's eyes started sparkling a bit.
" Well, the original plot is uh... Uh.... Here take a look for yourself. "
Suddenly a book appeared in Z's hand and she tossed it over to Zoey.
Zoey looked down at the elegantly carved book cover that subtly sparkled and read the title out loud.
" ' She Who Is Loved Continuously: The Girl Who Thaws Hearts. "
Crickets.
" Wow. I expected you to actually throw up at that."
Z admitted.
" My organs are undergoing a disturbing shift that is not visible. Now continue. "
" Oh! So, this novel is what this world is built upon. Though we aren't bound to the original plot points, by a long shot! We are still bound to the story as its characters. "
Z's face suddenly went a bit dark.
" And in this novel.... we were... *sigh* originally we were both just cannon fodder for the protagonist."
Zoey still didn't react, though a nerve twitched in her forehead.
" In the original novel, the protagonist is this smart, clever, sweet, down to earth, slightly naive, girl who moves in with her best friend.
Long story short, after her best friend is killed she is thrown down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and mysteries while trying to solve her friend's murder.
Along the way, she helps powerful people, gains connections, and becomes more beautiful, stronger, you know your typical-"
" Mary-Sue. "
Zoey finished her sentence.
" Exactly.
And remember how you said that if not for some unknown force we both would have stayed dead?"
Zoey nodded.
" That was what was supposed to happen.
You see, after you and Annie were blown up she investigates and manages to get her hands on your tech and your system.
She then exposes the Bell family and all the people involved in your murder.
As for me.
Well, after Alex pushed me down the stairs I died.
And Alex being the gentleman he is, covers it up.
And that's when the protagonist rolls around.
She helps out Noah, my family, and she makes friends with more powerful people like Angela, Isaac etcetera.
Then she tells the world about my abuse, my life and convinces Alex to turn himself in to the police for murder after stealing his heart.
He does as she wishes and is given a fucking slap on the wrist.
Yeah, that's cool.
Push a person down the stairs after torturing them for years and get six months in prison.
Cushy white-collar prison goddamnit."
" *Ahem*"
Z snapped back to reality and began to get back on track when Zoey cleared her throat.
" Uhh, yeah, anyway. Besides the complex plot, the novel was especially popular because of the diverse representation of the LGBT community in the characters.
People all across the rainbow."
" Get back on topic. "
" I am!"
" Anyways! Because it was so popular this enacted many side stories, what-if stories, different route stories. You know where the protagonist ends up with different people.
It got so popular that it was made into an otome game and even a manga.
And it's even due to have its first episode as an anime.
Everything was going well.
Until one day.
Remember how I said the novel was written on an online platform?
Well, that's where this comes up.
After finishing the last side story of the series the author woke up after a long sleep after collapsing from overwork.
When she woke up she checked her novel account in which she wrote her stories.
Only to see a strange new story in the process of being written.
At first, she thought it was a mistake.
So she tried to delete it.
But almost immediately it popped back up.
She tried again and again. She restarted the software and even called several support services but it still wouldn't leave.
That's when she realized that there was a chapter being written.
The word count climbed and climbed.
With the occasional grammar and spelling mistakes.
Then it would post.
The author immediately deleted the chapter.
But it would just write itself again.
She tried to rewrite the entire thing as a completely different novel but it would just rewrite back to its original state.
She reset everything she could think of. She couldn't delete her account because that's where her main income was. She called every person she could think of and nothing worked.
After multiple attempts and runarounds, she kinda gave up and decided to just let it play out.
She watched the story write itself. It was sort of a really, REALLY, obscure what-if story based on you.
And as she watched, it wasn't long before she realized that she could change it up."
" Change it up?"
" Nothing too big.
She can't incite a nuclear war or an apocalyptic plague without any build-up or warning if it isn't relevant to the plot.
But she can do things like changing the possible outcomes of hair colors and eye colors of the population. Which is why you look like a freaking tree and I look like a carrot."
" She can just do that?"
Zoey scoffed.
" Well, yeah, she's the author, she created the foundation this world is built on.
If she says something exists, or is normal, or ordinary, it is!
But again even she has limits.
She can't just say dragons exist.
She can't just kill off a character without warning.
Or anything of the sort.
But she can mess with you as much as she likes. And she has.
But the reason, one of them that is, why the author keeps getting involved is because of one little thing."
Z trailed off to subtly hint at something.
But when she looked over to Zoey and saw that she was oblivious. She groaned.
" *Ugh* You! It's you! You're the thing! You're the reason the author keeps messing with the world!"
Zoey's eyes widened a bit cracking her calm and cold facade.
" Me?"
" Yeah!
You see an author has complete control over their novels characters.
If she makes a character jump, they jump.
She says dance, they dance!
There's not much to it really.
But you, Zoey-
You're something else."
Zoey raised an eyebrow in response.
" What's the simplest way to explain it?
Umm, okay.
Let's say the novel is writing itself and you're given two choices.
Choice A,"
She held up her left hand as if she was holding something.
" Or choice B."
She held up her right hand the same way.
" In normal cases, if the author wanted you to choose A. You would.
But for some reason, you're not under the author's complete control.
So if you wanted you could choose B if you so desired.
But, you could also choose choice C or D.
You have the power to choose your own path and make new choices when there seems to be only one choice.
And let's just say, this piqued the author's interest."
" Wait, hold up. Quick question, how do you know so much about the author and I suspected that she was a guy based on how perverted some of this is!"
" Because she told me."
"....What?"
"She told me.
And I know you're going to ask, so here's the explanation.
The author is the ultimate power here.
Even though she's technically human, she's still our creator which makes her a part of divinity. To us at least.
And technically existing as a 'divine being', she can't directly communicate with people of this world or interact as much as she pleases.
For it could be catastrophic to interfere and saying one whisper to someone could drive them mad.
You know how in some tv shows and other stuff and junk they say angels and the like are so divine that just the glimpse of them could drive you insane or kill you?"
A nod came from Zoey once more.
" Yeah, that's the case here. Except that the sheer force of the fourth wall being shattered could actually cripple you.
I mean it.
So she used me.
She kept my soul here to do her dirty work.
I'm much more powerful than everyone else but I'm definitely weaker than her.
So, I'm basically like her goon whom she pays in luxurious comfort."
" Oh ok. And what did you mean about me piquing the author's interest?"
" Well, I think you should let this explain."
That's when Z reached into a fold of her dress and pulled out a black envelope with a gold wax seal.
" Where did you pull that fro-"
" Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to. "
Z quickly shut down Zoey's question before she finished.
Grabbing the envelope Zoey was about to open it but then she looked back up to Z.
" So just to summarize, this world is a mysteriously composed novel written by a mysterious source and this is all based on another novel written by the author? The author who only has a moderate amount of control over this place? But I am a character with supposed free will and can go against the author's wishes?
But the author can still mess with me in other ways? Which is why I've been having trouble?"
" Yea."
(Everyone clear? Yeah? No? Oh well, too bad.)
" Okay, wait- why did I just say all that?"
" Read the letter and you'll know. You'll also find out how she broke her promise."
Zoey glanced down at the black envelope and gently peeled off the stamp.
She pulled out the contrasting white snowy paper and the first words she saw were.
' Hey Zoey!
It's me! Your creator! Your master! Your author!
I decided to pass this letter through Z to you clear some things up. Let's get started, shall we?'