The screen is pitch black, some glitches showing up here and there. Suddenly, a light turns on.

Six screens. One, an elf with blue hair. The second, a boy with red. A young man in a sailor cap and brown hair. A man with red hair and green eyes. A young woman with orange hair, a black line over her eyes. The final screen is blank.

The sailor laughs. "If only we could meet in person," he straightens his cap. "Then, I think we could be complete."

The boy nods. "If only."

"But we can't. None of us are real." The elf frowns.

"Well, except..." The redheaded man goes silent.

"Except Red." The orange-haired woman sighs.

"P͕͡leâ̧͙͎͎̜̌͌͆͞š͔͉͍̝͋̊̅è͍̣͆͌͟,̘͖̐͑ ͖̅d̹͓̐̌ó̻̪͋ǹ̝'̧̭̩̳̦͗̿̌̈́̒ṯ̛̻̅ ͇̆sa̧̻͂͞y͓͉̮̟̍̒̄̚ ̡̬͔̻̞̍̌́͛̅m̥̣̞̟̀̀͑͒y͇̫̰̭͆̑̑͗ ͖̭͒́n̺̺̒͞a̺͝m̡̐è͖."

"Okay, okay!" The woman puts her hands in the air. "I'm the error here, I get things wrong!"

"You do, Y." the boy frowns. "Why am I here? She took my place!"

"Brad, be quiet," the sailor cap man said sternly. "Red only made her because you weren't there at the time."

"No!" Brad exclaimed. "I was there 2 YEARS before she was a thing!"

"W̭̼͛͆h͎̣̭͍̀͑̋͐a̰͓̝͆̆̚ṫ̤̟͖͉̲͐͑́̓ ̜̱͍̔͗̀m͍̼͊̂̏͜ak̡̫͎̇̃͛̕͜e̯̾ṡ̯̫͎͙̰͗̽̎͞ ͎̺̉̌̊͢͜͠ỳ͟o̳͝u̧͎̗̦̿̃͠͠ ͓̼̗͖̈͋̊͂ť̼̊̉ͅͅh̛̺ï̡̘̠͔͗̇̕n̲̻̦̔̊͞ḳ̥̻͊͘͡ ̢͈̤̊̍͞Ĭ̗̼͡ ͍̺͈͔̔̊̏̚m̗̞͙̿̽͗̎͢͜͠a̖̞̽̌d͓̕e̮̓̍ͅ ̨̨̭̦̹̑͒̐̍͠ḫ̢̏͆e̡͑̀͢ȓ̬ ̛̬͍͐ô̡̖͇̠̺̂̅̊͝ǹ̨͉͇͆̚ ̲̘͚̐̕̕p̻͆ũ̩̤͔̅̍r̛̲̟̔̕͢ṕ̩̤̾o͇͚̲̔̂̕͢͝s̖̜̤̔̕͠e?̯͓̄̋̋ͅ"

"Uhm..." Brad got quiet.

"Ȑ̩̬͒͜͡e̻̬̭͚̥͕̤̿̒̓̈̑̄͋p̗̆o̙̹̿͠r̛̳̖͇͎̖͕̐̅͞͡͠t̡͎̟̻̰̓͐̊̇̕,̢̺̻̪̋̏̋̄ ͕̠̣̲̺͐̀̇̈̉Ǎ͔̝̼̮̬̃̎͋͋̕͜͠ͅd̘̱̝̐̽̿͟͟͝͞aḿ̲?̝͇̈́̃"

"AHmm..." the man in the cap, Adam presumably, stuttered across his words for a moment. "We found a cave, and were safe? And we got some loot?" he held up a jewel to the camera. "We're in our ship now. Everybody else is asleep. A young boy also joined our group, but just before Raven went missing"

"M͔̯̘̪̃́͌͘a̳̠̲̓͆͡r̨̛̘͈̪͕̼̀̾̍̿͌̅͢ci͉͍̳̥͕͆̑́̕͘è̮͎̦̘͒̋̅̋͜?̹͑ ̛̦̱͉̘̹͛̃̿͆W̡̩͎̩͔̺̑̓͗̓͒̊͢͡h̲̭̺̱͒̈̈́́a͚̲̳̣̠̩̐̄́̉̊̕t̹͊ ̪͓̱̞̥̬͋̇̾͒̽͘ǎ̬͓̰͔͋͢͝͡͠b͕̑͒ͅo̰̝̪̠̼̘̒̅̿͗̅̉̀͟ṷ̜̹͗͒̕t͈͊ ̯̎y͙̥̦̦͒͗͐̚͟͡ơ̜͇̥͔̭̦̪̿̈́̓̚̚͠ų̡̱̹̩̣̤̈́̍̀̓̆̅̕?̠̮̓̇"

The elf frowned, staying blank. "Well, Dray is almost dead. Achille saved him, though. He was stupid and tried jumping over a ravine. Hons and TJ went missing after we left Mr. Smithers' town."

"S̨̫̮̋͐͝á͉̩̮̻̟͒͒̅͒d͎̦̞͉̔̿̇̀.̛̰̺͙̥̓̉̆͘ͅ ̟̪̲͙̝̈̊̉̇͑W͉͓̩̃̐̄hą̢̜̻͓̝̑̌̉̚͝͝t͎͉̼̦͕͌́̽̒͞ ͔̙̜̈̐͟͞͞ȧ͕̳̝͓̦͆̑̿̃bo͚͕͐̀̚͟u͉̗̰̇̋́͛͜ţ͙̜͋̾̕̕͢ ̧̳͙̞̰͈̉́̾́̉̚y̢̝͕͖̲͋̎̓̉́̋͟o̮̱̟̩͓͑̎̀̿͑u͍̜̠͋̂͘, B̘̋r̙̒͋̓͢ͅấ̤̺̦͙͘͞d͔͕͔̗̦̆̋̆͡͠?̞͛"

Oh, uhm." Brad scratched his cheek. "Aiasha is good, I haven't seen anyone else much lately. My grades are okay."

"Ĝ͕̯̒o̢̢̩̓̏͝o͖͉̩̝͈͉͔̊̆̽̐̈́̒̎d͚̥̣̻͓͕̋̀̒̐̄͂͘͢,̡͊ ̖̋ģ̭̀̚o̹͖͖̞̦͋̅̅̓̀͊͜͜͡o̢͍̞̜̠͆͑̾̓̐d͌ͅ.̟̊ Ě̫̰͗r̡͇̳͎͉̪̉̀̍̀͘͠r̺̿ǫ̨̮̦͉͚̬͑̆͗̕͞͡͞r̡͓̹̘͖͑̍̋͘͡ ̼̗̥̻͖̃̈̅͐̕Ÿ̫̤͔̦̜̓̒̄̾?̝̻̅̌͘͢ ̨̘̬͛̿͋̓͢Y̢̖̳̭̔̄̊̾͢͞ỏ͙u̳̖̤̎͊̕ř͔̱̜͒̒̕͟ ̝̘̰̄̆̕ş̕ḯ̙̰̲̾͌͢͝ḓ͘é̼?̧̳͋͝"

"Bad." the others sat in silence, urging her to evaluate. "RFS is just getting worse. Me, C, and M are staying by Errors B, A, and S now."

"Į̛͕̣̣̖͌̉̎̃'l͍̝͔͉͛̔̽̄ľ̖͉͌ ̢̮̙̭́̉͐͝t͓̿o̧̡̻̻̮͉͛̓͗̎̃̕ụ̠̟͗͒̚c͓͓̙̪͕͛̎̀̍͝h̛͍ ̳̬̗͉̼̜͑̐̏͋̑͠ù̞̤̱͋̒̋̕͢͜p̥͓̬͈̞̥͎͛̏̑̋̄̓̐ ̰͉̖̭̂̀̽͠ở̢͓̹̯̼͇̌̊͛̐n͉̩̬̽͌͢͠͠ ͕̞̩̇́̕hi̩̥̫̐͌̈̓͟m͕̄.̛̤̩͈̉́̃́̓͢͡ͅͅͅ W̪̾ḩ̖͓̼̗̜̎̒̏̂̚͡ą̹̮̓͛͂t̨̟̔͗̇͜ ͔̝͓̙̔̎̅̍͟͞a̛͙̜̞̘͆̋̃b̟͍̀̾o̞̥̒͌u̝͌t̢̢̡͕̼̱͒̄̌͊̎̀̆͢ ̛̘Ṣ͇̍̒̾ͅn͉̬̜̓̉͊a̲͕̝̯̣͆̏̋́̓k̨̫̗̼̊̎͛͞e̟͞?̫̤̹̜̽̍̈̍"

The man frowned. "Keep it down. Me, Smol, and Gmish are about to watch the recap. So I gotta go soon. But life's good. A trail about mangoes never hurt anybody."

"O̧̢̩͇̦̽̆̆̍͗k̗̬̆̇͝ͅa̰̪̲͐̎̏ȳ̦̼̭̺͆̽͠.͙̝̼̍͊͊ ̡̛̠̳̿̑Ỳ̠̗̌ȯ̬̣̐u̐͜ ͇̝͆͠c̖͓̝̏͛̒a̠̽n͚͠ ̬͉̬̝̥̥͍̀̓͋͑̋̓̏ḻ̢̭͈͊̀͛̃ë̖̳͕͙̻́̌͗̑̾̕͢a͈͊v̯̔e̗̚ ̠̠͚̹̹̥͚͐̎͒̀͌̍͡n̨̼̤͚̬̔̄̇͛̑ô̡̳͚̮̌̑͞ŵ͇̙̟̪̥͖̖̌̒̆̀̆͑,̯̽ I͙̳̳̅̀̕'͙̯̙̐̽̅l̞͇͊̑͘͢ḻ̻̝̺͑̅̓̃̎̾͟ͅ ̛̗̺̭͇̋̅̓̉͟gi̘̮̝̦͚̎̏̍̆͐v̹̬̭̋̾́ẹ̫̲͑̈̈́ ̛̠̥̤̰̫̾̎̂͞ý̧̬͕̤̈̾̚ǒ͙̻̻̳͓͖̮̈́͋̍̇͆͘ȗ̳̗̩͈̲͗͆̑̈́ ̛̞̪̮̱͐̈̌a̲̲̿̏͂͟ ̨̥͈̒̕͡r̛͎̖̞̝̳̱̊̓̌̎͗̓͜ė̳̜͍̌͡c̱̤̲͋̓̎ỏ̗͕̝̀͞r̤͓̲̦̾̍͋̏͆͜dí̱̗̎n̢̼͉̦͈̹̑̌͌͆̏̓ğ͉ ̱͒o̤͍̓̓f ̞͌t̡̧̢̛̖͍͔̽̃̆̓̋h̦̓is͈̥̓͛ ̲͓͕̻͔̫̌́͗̈̇̀sŏ̝̣̙̏̋ô͈̼̍n̩͝ ͈̋e̹̜̣̜͌͒̓̽no̩̜͇̗̒͗͆̚͞ͅu̧͖͍̝̬̟̩͋̉͛̅͊͒̚g̬͈̙͒̌̄h,̢̗͉̮͈̎̉̋̉̊̕͟͠ͅ"

The screen goes off. A few seconds. 30. Then a minute passes. You think of getting up, when- It shoots on.

The screen shows a small room. A bedroom, most likely. A man with a sailor cap walks in. You recognize him as Adam. He has a jockey silk on, white with a green circle in the middle. Khaki pants, a tattered lei, and backpack.

He smiles when he sees the camera.

"Oh, hello."

He takes his backpack off, pulling a thick book from it.

"I'm going to tell you a story. A very interesting one."

(475 words)