Maris sat there, her finger hovering over the mysterious, nameless file. The timestamp seemed to mock her. Before the debut. Before the polished Maris Tide model. The one who could talk, smile, joke and be 'authentically funny' on command.
With a deep breath, she clicked it.
The screen blinked, and suddenly, she was hit with a rush of nostalgia. But not the shiny, carefully crafted nostalgia she was used to. No, this one felt raw. Real. Like a memory from a forgotten life.
The familiar, offbeat jingle played, but this time, it was accompanied by a small voice. The sound was muffled—like someone was talking underwater.
A camera flickered on.
And there she was.
The image was grainy, shaky. Not the sharp 4K we were used to. No, this was a mess. A real mess.
Maris leaned forward, squinting at the screen. Was that...?
Her voice came through, almost unrecognizable.
"Yo, what's up, nerds? It's me, um… yeah, I don't know why I'm here, but I guess… we're doing this?"
The video was chaotic. There was no neat intro. No ocean background. Just a scruffy Maris, her hair wild, wearing a beat-up hoodie with a random cat sticker on it. She was sitting in front of a small, messy desk that looked like it had seen better days.
Her voice was less polished, more… well, like a real person.
"Okay, hold up, how do I even do this…?" She fumbled with the camera, then looked directly into it, her eyes wide, a little nervous. "Alright, fine, we're doing this. I'm your—uh, what even is my name? Uhhh, let's go with 'Fish Girl.' Yeah. Sure."
A snort of laughter escaped her.
> "BRUH, what is this??" "Is this a joke or… a cry for help?"
She waved her hand dismissively at the camera. "Yeah, yeah, I know. This is cringe. But, uh, it's gotta start somewhere, right?"
It was awkward. Unscripted. Her sense of humor was so... raw. So dry, but still undeniably hers. No frills. Just her, being herself, fumbling through the start of something she had no idea would turn into what it was.
"Look," she said, suddenly serious, but only for a moment. "If you're gonna watch this, you better get used to the fact that I'm not some polished professional. I'm just… well, me. Whatever that is." She laughed again, a little too loudly. "Anyway, I'm gonna try to not completely embarrass myself, but I'm not making any promises."
She stopped, staring at the camera for a long beat. Her face softened, just a little. She seemed… almost lost in thought.
"Honestly, I don't know why I'm even here. What's the point of all this?" She shrugged. "I just thought, maybe I could be something. Maybe I could do something."
Then, the camera went out of focus, and she cursed under her breath.
> "Is she okay??" "Did she just break the camera?" "I think she's secretly an alien."
Maris blinked, her chest tightening as she watched herself from that time. That voice. That rawness. That uncertainty. It was so… real.
"Man, I was a mess," Maris muttered aloud, rubbing her eyes. She reached for her mug again, but it was already empty. When had that happened?
The video kept playing.
She was still there—rambling about nonsense, spouting off memes, half-laughing at her own absurdity.
"I don't have a magical backstory, or some tragic past, alright? I'm just... here. Trying to figure it out."
And then the video cut to black, leaving only the faint sound of a distant, offbeat tune looping in the background.
Maris let out a long breath, eyes still fixed on the screen. Her heart thudded against her ribs. That video felt like a lifetime ago. But it was also... her.
She clicked the file closed and slumped back in her chair, fingers numb from gripping the mouse too hard.
"What the hell was that?" she muttered. Her voice sounded small, even to herself.
It was weird. Like she had discovered someone she used to be, but also someone she didn't know anymore. It wasn't some mythical VTuber. It wasn't the polished Maris Tide she presented to the world.
It was... something else. Something she had buried, long ago. Something that now felt like a memory, like an echo from a life she couldn't quite reach.
Her phone buzzed again.
> "10:02 AM – Reminder: You're still late for the meeting.Dont make us send a search party again."
Maris groaned, rubbing her face. She opened the video file again, just for a second. It was like a strange pull—like the video was calling her back, reminding her of something.
But she couldn't stay lost in it. Not now. Not when there were so many things to figure out.
"Alright," she muttered, slapping the mouse to close everything. "Let's get back to the show."
But as she adjusted her headset and prepared to head into the meeting, something tugged at her—something deeper than usual. The feeling that something had shifted, that she wasn't quite the same anymore. Not that she could pinpoint what had changed, but...
She wasn't just Maris Tide, the VTuber anymore. There was something more. Something waiting to resurface.
And she had no idea just how deep that rabbit hole went.
Right before the meeting started, her phone buzzed again.
> "10:03AM – NEW MESSAGE: From Unknown: You were supposed to forget me, Maris. But you didn't."