There was something oddly comforting about chaos—at least, when it came in the form of her team.
The group call was still in full swing, and Maris was mentally half-present. On screen, Luna had just opened the "Anniversary Planning Kit" the agency had mailed them—a ridiculously overstuffed PDF titled: "Project: Operation Blow Their Socks Off (And Maybe Yours Too)" complete with clip art, fireworks, and a formal note at the top:
> "Please remember this is a VACATION. You are under no pressure. We are just monitoring your progress. Kindly."
Tomo: "We're on vacation, huh?"
Kaia: "Yeah. A vacation where you have to submit a group project, meet a deadline, film a promo, write a script, and maybe survive a ghost."
Yumi (reading): "This part literally says: 'No stress! We trust you!' and then right below it: 'Please submit three backup stream drafts, all assets in 4k, and a teaser trailer by Friday.'"
Maris: "This is what I imagine a vacation in corporate hell feels like."
Luna (grinning): "That's why I printed the whole packet out, put it in a beach bag, and now I only read it in a swimsuit. Spiritually, I am on vacation."
Ryu: "They sent me a coconut with a note inside. It just said: 'Be creative.'"
Kaia: "The coconut is the producer now."
Maris: "I wish the ghost would possess the coconut instead."
Tomo: "Too late. The coconut is already possessed by capitalism."
They burst into laughter—genuine, loose, and ridiculous.
But under Maris's smile, something still tugged. The earlier message—the voice, the chill. It hadn't left her mind. Not really. Not even with the coconut.
And when the screen flickered again—just once—she didn't tell anyone.
Just as the laughter faded and Luna began assigning roles—"Yumi, you're on graphics; Kaia, you're on horror puns; Tomo, you're moral support and maybe explosions"—Maris's screen flickered again.
Once.
Just once.
Barely a second. But enough.
She froze. No one else seemed to notice.
Her audio glitched, a faint static crawling through her headset. Then a voice—too soft, too warped—threaded through the static:
> "...never forget...to smile ...genuinely. "
Maris blinked. Her hands tightened around the mug she hadn't realized she was holding. The warmth was gone. Ice seeped in.
Yumi: "Hey, Maris? You good?"
She looked up. Everyone was staring now.
Maris: "Yeah… yeah. Just… uh, coconut lag. You know how it is."
Ryu: "Classic haunted fruit latency."
Kaia: "First the texts, now the tech. Maris, you might actually be cursed."
Tomo: "At this rate, our anniversary stream is gonna be a horror ARG."
Luna: "Only if we charge extra for the trauma."
The chat laughed again.