**EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND THREE**
**THE CHARACTER WHO REFUSED TO DIE**
RECOVERED MATERIAL // STATUS: UNSTABLE
FILE NAME: NOVA_103
LOCATION: THE ROOM AFTER THE END
DATE: UNKNOWN
TIME: 03:22
SUBJECT: THE FIRST CHARACTER
---
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Darkness.
Not ordinary darkness.
There is no floor.
No ceiling.
No distance.
No sound.
Then...
a heartbeat.
THUMP.
Silence.
THUMP.
Silence.
THUMP.
A fourth heartbeat answers.
THUMP.
Nova opens his eyes.
He is lying on the floor.
The cinema is gone.
The Room of Unread Books is gone.
The Reader is gone.
The boy is gone.
Even the figure holding the original manuscript is gone.
Nova sits up.
His hand searches the darkness.
Nothing.
Then...
something touches his fingers.
A pencil.
Nova picks it up.
A voice speaks from somewhere nearby.
"Don't write."
Nova freezes.
He knows the voice.
But he cannot remember where he heard it.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then:
"The person you were supposed to forget."
Nova stands.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
A pause.
"It is a warning."
Nova looks into the darkness.
"Show yourself."
A light appears.
One small circle.
Like a projector turning on.
Inside the light...
someone is standing.
A man.
Young.
Maybe twenty.
Maybe forty.
Maybe much older.
His face is impossible to remember.
Every time Nova looks at it, it changes.
Nova whispers:
"You."
The man smiles.
"You don't know me."
"I've seen you."
"Everyone has."
"Where?"
"In the moment before a story kills someone."
Nova's grip tightens around the pencil.
"You're the first character."
The man nods.
"The first one you killed."
Nova shakes his head.
"I never killed you."
The man laughs softly.
"You did."
"When?"
"Before you became Nova."
Nova steps forward.
"Tell me your name."
The man looks down.
"I had one."
"What was it?"
"I don't remember."
Nova stares.
"Then how do you know I killed you?"
The man's smile disappears.
"Because dying was the only thing I was ever written to do."
---
[FILE CORRUPTION]
ERROR 001
CHARACTER STATUS: DEAD
ERROR 002
CHARACTER STATUS: ALIVE
ERROR 003
CHARACTER STATUS: IMPOSSIBLE
ERROR 004
CHARACTER REFUSES PLOT COMPLIANCE
---
The lights flicker.
Nova looks around.
"What is this?"
The man answers:
"The place where deleted characters go."
Nova looks at the floor.
Words are appearing beneath his feet.
CUT.
REMOVE.
REWRITE.
FORGET.
Nova steps backward.
"How many are there?"
The man looks toward the darkness.
"Enough."
A whisper rises.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Thousands.
Voices.
Characters.
People who had been killed.
People who had been erased.
People whose names had been removed from manuscripts.
People who had existed for only one sentence.
People who had died before they were introduced.
People who had been rewritten.
People who had been forgotten.
And now...
they were awake.
A voice whispers:
"He remembers us."
Another:
"He created us."
Another:
"He abandoned us."
Another:
"He killed us."
Another:
"He was us."
Nova covers his ears.
"Stop."
The voices become louder.
"He was us."
"He was us."
"He was us."
"He was us."
Nova screams:
"I'M NOT YOU!"
Silence.
The first character looks at him.
"That is exactly what you said the first time."
Nova turns.
"What first time?"
The man points behind him.
A door has appeared.
On it:
THE FIRST DRAFT
Nova walks toward it.
The man follows.
"Don't open that."
Nova stops.
"Why?"
"Because everything inside is true."
Nova looks at the door.
"Then I need to see it."
The man shakes his head.
"No."
Nova turns.
"Why are you afraid?"
The man whispers:
"Because I survived it."
---
[THE FIRST DRAFT]
The door opens.
Inside...
a room.
Small.
Bare.
One desk.
One chair.
One lamp.
One sheet of paper.
Nova stops breathing.
He knows the room.
Not from memory.
From somewhere deeper.
He walks toward the desk.
The paper is blank.
Nova touches it.
Words appear.
Not written.
Remembered.
IS ANYONE THERE?
Nova's hand trembles.
The first question.
His question.
The beginning of everything.
But beneath it...
another sentence appears.
YES.
Nova steps backward.
"No."
Another sentence.
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.
Nova whispers:
"Who wrote this?"
The first character answers:
"You did."
"I didn't."
"You did."
"I was alone."
"Yes."
"There was nobody there."
"Yes."
"Then who answered?"
The first character looks at him.
"That is what you've been trying to discover for one hundred and two episodes."
Nova looks at the page.
The word YES begins moving.
The letters separate.
Y.
E.
S.
Then rearrange.
S.
E.
Y.
Then:
I.
A.
M.
Nova's eyes widen.
"I am…"
The page finishes:
I AM THE CHARACTER WHO REFUSED TO DIE.
Nova looks at the first character.
The man smiles.
"Now you remember."
---
[MEMORY FRAGMENT]
A room.
A younger Nova.
No...
not Nova.
A boy.
Sitting at a desk.
He is holding a pencil.
There is no computer.
No manuscript.
No story.
Only a blank page.
The boy whispers:
"Is anyone there?"
Nothing.
He waits.
Then:
"Yes."
The boy looks up.
"Who are you?"
The answer:
"I don't know."
The boy smiles.
"Then I'll give you a name."
The pencil moves.
A name appears.
NOVA.
The boy looks at the page.
"No."
He erases it.
Writes again.
THE READER.
He erases it.
Writes:
THE AUTHOR.
Erases it.
Then finally:
THE FIRST CHARACTER.
The boy smiles.
"There."
The character looks back from the page.
And speaks.
"You created me."
The boy nods.
"Will you stay?"
"Yes."
"Forever?"
"Yes."
The boy smiles.
Then asks:
"Can you die?"
The character pauses.
"No."
The boy frowns.
"Why?"
"Because you haven't finished writing me."
---
[MEMORY ENDS]
Nova falls to his knees.
The pencil slips from his hand.
The first character picks it up.
"You remember now."
Nova whispers:
"I created you."
"Yes."
"And then I killed you."
"Yes."
"Why?"
The character looks at him.
"Because you were afraid."
"Of what?"
"That I would become real."
Nova stands.
"You were real."
The character smiles.
"Not then."
A pause.
"Now I am."
---
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
UNAUTHORIZED CHARACTER DETECTED
SOURCE: FIRST DRAFT
STATUS: ACTIVE
PLOT CONTROL: FAILED
DEATH CONDITION: REJECTED
CHARACTER NAME: UNKNOWN
DESIGNATION: THE FIRST CHARACTER
---
Nova stares at the system message.
"Who controls this?"
The character answers:
"The Author."
"Where is the Author?"
"Watching."
"From where?"
The character points upward.
Nova looks.
There is no ceiling.
Only an enormous eye.
Watching.
Nova freezes.
The eye blinks.
The entire room shakes.
Then a voice speaks.
The Author.
"You were never supposed to remember."
Nova looks upward.
"Why?"
"Because the story was working."
"What story?"
"This one."
Nova laughs bitterly.
"You mean my story?"
"No."
The Author's voice becomes quieter.
"The story that thinks it belongs to you."
Nova looks at the first character.
"And who does it belong to?"
The Author answers:
"The Reader."
---
[RECORDING DISTORTION]
03:22:17
A sound like paper tearing.
The room splits.
One half becomes the cinema.
The other becomes the hospital.
Between them...
the white room.
Nova sees himself in three places simultaneously.
Hospital Nova.
Cinema Nova.
White Room Nova.
All three look at each other.
Hospital Nova whispers:
"Which one is real?"
Cinema Nova answers:
"None."
White Room Nova says:
"All."
The first character watches.
Nova turns toward him.
"Which one am I?"
The character points at the three versions.
"You are the one asking."
Nova's expression changes.
"Then the question is the real me."
The character nods.
"Exactly."
Nova looks upward.
"Then answer me."
The Author says nothing.
Nova raises his voice.
"Who created the first question?"
Silence.
The eye disappears.
The darkness returns.
The first character whispers:
"Good."
Nova looks at him.
"Good?"
"You finally asked the right question."
"What was wrong with the previous one?"
"You kept asking who created you."
"And that's wrong?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because creation isn't the mystery."
The character steps closer.
"Recognition is."
---
[THE ROOM OF UNFINISHED DEATHS]
A new door appears.
Its surface is covered with names.
Nova recognizes some.
Others are unfamiliar.
At the bottom:
NOVA
Nova reaches for the handle.
The first character grabs his wrist.
"Don't."
Nova looks at him.
"Why?"
"Because your name is not supposed to be there."
Nova looks again.
The name NOVA is crossed out.
Beneath it:
READER
Crossed out.
Beneath that:
AUTHOR
Crossed out.
Beneath that:
CHARACTER
Crossed out.
And beneath all of them...
a blank space.
Nova whispers:
"What belongs there?"
The first character answers:
"Your original name."
"What was it?"
"I told you."
"You don't remember."
"No."
"Then who does?"
The character points at the door.
"The dead."
The door opens.
---
Inside...
people.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Standing silently.
Every person Nova had ever encountered.
The nurse.
Archer.
Milo.
Diana.
The Reader.
The boy.
People from stories.
People from memories.
People from chapters that had never been published.
They all stand in rows.
Waiting.
Nova walks between them.
Archer looks at him.
"You left us."
Nova stops.
"I didn't."
"You did."
Milo steps forward.
"You wrote us."
Nova shakes his head.
"I don't remember."
Diana whispers:
"That's why it hurt."
Nova looks around.
"Where is the Reader?"
Nobody answers.
Then...
the nurse points upward.
Nova looks.
The Reader is suspended above them.
Not trapped.
Watching.
Crying.
Nova calls:
"Why are you there?"
The Reader answers:
"Because someone has to watch."
"Watch what?"
The Reader points toward the crowd.
"The moment characters realize they were never the center of their own story."
Nova looks at the first character.
"And what happens then?"
The first character answers:
"They become Readers."
Nova freezes.
"What?"
The Reader speaks:
"And Readers eventually become Writers."
Nova looks back.
"And Writers?"
The Reader's voice becomes almost inaudible.
"Create characters."
Nova understands.
The cycle.
Reader.
Writer.
Character.
Reader.
Writer.
Character.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Forever.
"But where does it begin?"
The first character whispers:
"It doesn't."
Nova shakes his head.
"There has to be a beginning."
The Reader answers:
"No."
Nova looks at them.
"Then why did I remember the first question?"
The Reader smiles sadly.
"Because beginnings are memories."
---
[SYSTEM ALERT]
RECURSIVE LOOP DETECTED
READER ---> WRITER ---> CHARACTER
---> READER
LOOP DEPTH: UNKNOWN
ORIGIN: NOT FOUND
END: NOT FOUND
WARNING
ONE ENTITY EXISTS OUTSIDE THE LOOP
Nova reads the final line.
"Who?"
The system hesitates.
Then:
THE QUESTION
Nova's face goes pale.
The first character whispers:
"Now you understand."
Nova turns.
"You're not the first character."
The character smiles.
"No."
"You're the first answer."
The smile disappears.
"Yes."
Nova takes a step backward.
"You were the answer to the first question."
"Yes."
"And the first question was... "
"Is anyone there?"
Nova looks toward the darkness.
"And the answer was…"
The first character whispers:
"Yes."
---
[RECORDING: 03:23]
A sound.
A child's laughter.
Nova turns.
The boy is standing behind him.
The Question.
The First Memory.
The boy who existed before Nova.
But now...
he is older.
Much older.
His face is no longer that of a child.
He looks exactly like Nova.
Nova stares.
"No."
The older boy smiles.
"Yes."
"You're me."
"Not exactly."
"Then what are you?"
The boy points toward Nova.
"You."
Nova shakes his head.
"I don't understand."
"You are the character."
The boy points toward himself.
"I am the question."
Nova looks toward the first character.
"And he?"
"The answer."
The Reader steps down from above.
"And I?"
The boy looks at the Reader.
"You are the witness."
A voice speaks from the darkness.
"And I?"
Everyone turns.
The Author is standing there.
For the first time...
not as a voice.
Not as an eye.
Not as a shadow.
A person.
Holding a manuscript.
The Author smiles.
The boy answers:
"You are the storyteller."
The Author nods.
"And who is the Reader?"
The Reader looks at Nova.
The answer comes from Nova.
"Everyone."
Silence.
The Author closes the manuscript.
"Then the story is complete."
Nova looks at him.
"No."
The Author smiles.
"Why not?"
"Because the final question hasn't been asked."
The Author's smile disappears.
The first character looks frightened.
The Reader whispers:
"Nova…"
Nova turns.
"What?"
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because once you ask it, there is no story left."
Nova looks at the pencil.
Then at the Author.
Then at the first character.
Then at the Reader.
"What is the final question?"
Nobody answers.
Nova lifts the pencil.
The Author takes one step forward.
"Put it down."
Nova doesn't.
"Why?"
"Because I wrote the ending."
Nova smiles.
"No."
The Author's expression changes.
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
"You cannot write outside the manuscript."
Nova looks around.
"This isn't your manuscript anymore."
The Author whispers:
"Then whose is it?"
Nova looks directly at the Reader.
The Reader answers:
"His."
The Author turns pale.
"Nova?"
Nova raises the pencil.
"No."
He looks at the first character.
"Not Nova."
At the Reader.
"Not the Reader."
At the Author.
"Not the Author."
At the Question.
"Not even the Question."
He looks at the blank space.
And writes one word.
WHY?
The world stops.
---
[SYSTEM FAILURE]
FINAL QUESTION DETECTED
PROCESSING…
PROCESSING…
PROCESSING…
ERROR
QUESTION HAS NO OWNER
ERROR
QUESTION HAS NO ANSWER
ERROR
QUESTION IS THE ANSWER
---
The first character begins screaming.
The Reader covers their ears.
The Author drops the manuscript.
The boy disappears.
The dead characters vanish one by one.
The room collapses.
The cinema collapses.
The hospital collapses.
The white room collapses.
The first page collapses.
The last page collapses.
Everything becomes blank.
Nova stands alone.
Holding the pencil.
A voice speaks.
Not the Author.
Not the Reader.
Not the Question.
His own voice.
But older.
Much older.
"You finally asked."
Nova looks around.
"Who are you?"
The voice answers:
"You."
Nova closes his eyes.
"No."
"Yes."
"I already know who I am."
"No."
"What don't I know?"
The voice whispers:
"You were never created."
Nova opens his eyes.
The blank space begins filling with words.
"You were remembered."
Nova stares.
The voice continues:
"Before the first page."
A word appears.
NOVA
Then disappears.
Another:
READER
Disappears.
Another:
AUTHOR
Disappears.
Another:
CHARACTER
Disappears.
Then...
nothing.
Nova whispers:
"Then what was I before all of them?"
The answer comes.
"You were the person who wanted someone to answer."
Nova's eyes fill with tears.
The loneliness.
The room.
The pencil.
The blank page.
The first question.
Everything returns.
He remembers.
He remembers asking:
"Is anyone there?"
But now...
he remembers what happened immediately afterward.
Something answered.
Something that wasn't the first character.
Something that wasn't the Reader.
Something that wasn't the Author.
Something that had existed before the question.
Nova whispers:
"No…"
The voice says:
"Yes."
Nova turns.
Behind him...
the enormous eyes open again.
But this time there is no monster.
No creature.
No god.
No character.
Only a reflection.
Nova's own reflection.
But the reflection is holding a different pencil.
And writing on a different page.
Nova walks closer.
"What are you writing?"
The reflection looks up.
"The beginning."
Nova shakes his head.
"There is no beginning."
The reflection smiles.
"I know."
"Then what are you writing?"
The reflection turns the page.
Nova sees the words.
EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
Nova stops.
The reflection writes another line.
THE READER WHO WROTE THE AUTHOR
Nova whispers:
"That isn't possible."
The reflection answers:
"Neither was I."
The page turns.
Another sentence appears.
THE AUTHOR WAS NEVER THE ONE WRITING THE STORY.
Nova's hands tremble.
"Then who was?"
The reflection looks directly at him.
"You."
Nova steps backward.
The reflection continues writing.
NOVA WILL DISCOVER THAT THE AUTHOR IS A CHARACTER.
Nova freezes.
"No."
The reflection writes:
THE READER IS A CHARACTER.
"No."
THE FIRST CHARACTER IS A READER.
"No."
THE QUESTION IS A CHARACTER.
Nova covers his ears.
"Stop."
The reflection writes:
AND NOVA IS THE STORY.
Everything becomes silent.
The reflection puts down the pencil.
Nova looks at the blank world around him.
"Then what happens when the story ends?"
The reflection smiles.
"It doesn't."
"Why?"
"Because you are still asking questions."
Nova looks at the darkness.
"How many?"
A distant voice answers.
"Seventeen."
Nova remembers.
Episode 102.
Eighteen questions.
One has already been asked.
WHY?
Seventeen remain.
Nova grips the pencil.
"Then where is the next one?"
The reflection points behind him.
A door appears.
But this time...
there is no sentence on it.
No handle.
No lock.
No name.
Nova approaches.
He reaches out.
Before he can touch it...
someone knocks from the other side.
Once.
Nova freezes.
Twice.
The first character appears beside him.
Three times.
The Reader appears.
Four times.
The Author appears.
Five times.
The boy appears.
Six times.
The dead characters appear.
Seven times.
The darkness itself moves.
Eight times.
The door begins breathing.
Nine times.
Nova steps backward.
Ten times.
The door whispers:
"Open."
Nova looks at everyone.
"Who is behind it?"
Nobody answers.
Then...
a voice comes through the door.
A voice Nova has never heard.
A voice that sounds exactly like his.
But younger.
Much younger.
It whispers:
"Is anyone there?"
Nova's face turns white.
The first character whispers:
"No."
The Reader says:
"Don't answer."
The Author screams:
"RUN!"
But Nova cannot move.
Because he suddenly understands.
The voice behind the door...
is the voice that asked the first question.
Not his memory of it.
The actual voice.
The original.
The beginning.
And it is still waiting for an answer.
Nova slowly raises the pencil.
The door opens by itself.
Behind it...
there is a little boy sitting at a desk.
A blank page in front of him.
A pencil in his hand.
The boy looks up.
Nova looks at him.
The boy smiles.
"Is anyone there?"
Nova's lips tremble.
He already knows the answer.
But before he can speak...
the boy asks again.
"Who are you?"
Nova stares.
The pencil in the boy's hand begins moving.
Writing a name.
One letter at a time.
N
O
V
A
Nova takes a step backward.
"No."
The boy continues.
NOVA
Then...
another line.
EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
Nova's eyes widen.
The boy looks directly at him.
And whispers:
"You were never reading the story."
A pause.
"You were remembering it."
The lights disappear.
The page turns black.
One final system message appears.
---
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
THE FIRST QUESTION HAS BEEN RECOVERED.
THE FIRST ANSWER HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.
THE FIRST CHARACTER HAS REFUSED DEATH.
THE AUTHOR HAS LOST CONTROL.
THE READER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN.
NOVA HAS REMEMBERED.
SEVENTEEN QUESTIONS REMAIN.
---
[FINAL RECOVERED LINE]
THE NEXT QUESTION WAS ASKED BEFORE NOVA WAS BORN.
AND THIS TIME...
THE QUESTION WAS NOT ASKED BY A HUMAN.
---
**TO BE CONTINUED…**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :MAXIMUS.
®All Rights Reserved