Rafael's boots squelched with every step. Not in mud. No, that would be too merciful. It was something sticky, bioluminescent, and very much alive. He didn't ask questions. Questions in this world led to madness—or worse, exposition.
Stanley led the way through a broken overpass now serving as a nest for fluorescent bats and motivational posters. "You ever tried lemon-glazing a grenade?" he asked cheerily.
Rafael blinked. "Is that a metaphor?"
"Only on Tuesdays."
They emerged into the Spiral Sector Echo proper, a district that looked like someone gave an AI twenty years of architectural magazines and then threw it into a blender with a bottle of tequila.
Buildings leaned at impossible angles, road signs floated midair, and the very air hummed like a charging capacitor. It was chaos, and Rafael had missed it in a weird, painful way.
[System Alert: Region recognized. Loading quest log…]
He braced himself.
[Primary Quest: Stop the Apocalypse (Again)]
[Secondary Quest: Don't step in anything sentient.]
[Bonus Quest: Seduce a Fridge (Optional)]
"What the hell is this?" he muttered, scrolling through the objectives. "Half these are jokes."
[Incorrect. All are legally binding.]
Stanley peered over his shoulder. "Oh, you got the fridge seduction one too? I never passed that. I tried singing 'Careless Whisper' and ended up with frostbite."
Rafael groaned. "There has to be a way to clean this up."
[Cleaning in progress… Error: Data corrupted by Recursive Irony.]
"Of course."
They passed a giant billboard flashing an ad for "Time Insurance – We Cover Loops, Paradoxes, and Bad Decisions!" It exploded spontaneously, showering them in glitter confetti and something that may have been cake.
"Birthday apocalypse?" Stanley guessed.
Rafael wiped frosting from his coat. "I hate this place."
[Quest Updated: Attend the surprise birthday of reality.]
They took shelter in an alley shaped like a Mobius strip. Inside was a vending machine filled with cursed items: knives that screamed when touched, socks that multiplied when wet, and something labeled "Mom's Mystery Meat (Do Not Open Before 3021)."
Stanley shook it. "Wanna roll the dice?"
"Nope." Rafael was busy fiddling with his interface, trying to override the quest log. He managed to collapse it into a list of emojis and binary code. Slight improvement.
Then the air rippled. A static buzz filled the alley.
From the shadows stepped a figure wrapped in a lab coat covered in warning labels. Her eyes glowed faintly behind cracked goggles.
"Rafael Vagathris," she said.
He blinked. "Do I know you?"
"You did. I don't know, before the last six reboots, maybe?"
Stanley whispered, "That's Dr. Echo. She's… complicated."
"Complicated how?" Rafael asked.
"She built the recursion engine."
Dr. Echo raised a hand, palm glowing with a system-coded rune. "You're destabilizing again. Too many loops without resets. You're starting to remember too much."
Rafael's stomach turned. He felt it too—that creeping sense of déjà vu wrapped in dread.
"I think I prefer the fridge," he muttered.
Dr. Echo stepped closer. "If you want out, you'll need to stop treating this like a joke."
[System Message: Emotional Confrontation Detected. Suggestion – Cry, then run.]
Rafael sighed. "I don't do serious well."
"I know," Dr. Echo said softly. "But the next reboot won't wait for you to catch up."
She dropped a data spike at his feet. It pulsed once, then sank into the ground, vanishing.
"What's that supposed to do?" Rafael asked.
"Depends if you're ready to listen next time."
She vanished into the static.
Stanley patted his shoulder. "You okay?"
"Nope."
[Quest Acquired: Find the other Echoes. Ignore the existential dread.]
The alley twisted behind them as they walked out into the shifting light. Rafael opened his quest log again. The fridge quest was still there.
They wandered deeper into the district, weaving through floating staircases and sidewalks that politely moved out of their way. Rafael spotted a flock of origami birds flying in formation, each carrying tiny protest signs that read: "NO MORE PATCHES! GIVE US LORE!"
"Even the bugs are unionizing," Rafael muttered.
They ducked into a glowing arcade where every cabinet played a slightly different version of Rafael's worst memories. One machine offered a prize for beating "Childhood Trauma (Boss Rush Mode)."
He backed away quickly.
Stanley dropped a few coins into a claw machine labeled: "CATCH YOUR DESTINY." The claw missed repeatedly until it jammed and spat out a rubber chicken wearing a crown.
Rafael took it without comment and stuffed it in his coat.
Eventually, they reached a plaza where the ground projected memory echoes—flickering holograms of past reboots. Rafael watched himself die creatively half a dozen times in thirty seconds.
"Comforting," he said flatly.
"You're getting better," Stanley offered helpfully.
[Quest Updated: Remember Less. Survive More.]
Rafael sighed. "Fine. One thing at a time. Let's go break something."
"Tuesday's not over yet," Stanley said cheerfully.
"No," Rafael muttered. "But I might be."
***