Hello... if any of you reading this have read my stuff in the past and have noted a lack of updates on all of them, I'm here to tell you, I'm not dead! I'm not exactly dedicated author material as past readers may have figured but I do work on something I call my Terrible Topic Corner in addition to little scraps and ideas from time to time. Both can be found in my signature's links which lead to my RRL google drive folders.
Anyways, I may or may not pick this one back up at a later date, same as all my other stuff. In the mean time, enjoy a little thing I made for the heck of it, as always. I figured that since I wrote it and was loosely connected to NQaA, I might as well post it.
P.s. It is sort of related to NQaA so I guess you could call it a side chapter.
P.p.s. The TTC is a little repository of shorts and ideas mostly provided by random thoughts and whoever decides to comment. If you'd like a little something made, jot a quick note down and I'll get to it when I have the time and/or motivation, for everybody knows people love putting other things off for later when there are more fun things to do.
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…
Oh, hello there. I didn’t see you come in.
Sorry about that. My name is Narrator, by the way. I’d shake your hand but, uh, I don’t exactly have a hand… or a body really.
…
Ahem. Moving on now, what’s your name? Actually, don’t answer that question. You’re a reader right?
Just as MC’s do what MC’s do and narrators narrate, everybody knows that it’s a reader’s job to read. So just sit back and read.
You know, I’ve never had the chance to interact like this before. I’m always busy doing my job, narrating for some bloke and playing nth fiddle. I’d say second fiddle, but if you’ve got experience in reading, you should know that nobody pays attention to what role the narrator plays. At least unless the narrator’s doing a horrible job.
I apologize for those guys, they’re my malformed brethren and most of them can hardly do their jobs properly.
…
What’s with that look all of a sudden? You didn’t think that there’d be other narrators? We’re as plentiful as they come! Every story that’s written, every story that’s told, there’s a narrator. That’s how a story is told after all, through us.
You know, I’m just not used to being in the limelight for so long. It’s like how you might play support in a videogame only to be cast as the tank or DPS one day. You’re out of your element. I usually prefer to be on the sidelines. Present and visible, but not taking center stage as I am right now.
Actually, this one guy, you might know him as j0nn0. Well, let’s just say that I’ve grown a little attached to this crazy bastard over these last few months and he’s gotten me to play some odd roles, even if he doesn’t yet realize it. It’s like how you know a flaming car crash in happening before you but you are too fascinated to look away from it and instead of calling an ambulance, you take your snazzy camera phone to either snap a pic or get a vid.
Anyways, before this guy, I’ve just been perusing the world and watching over my fellow Narrators while participating in a few, let’s just call them excursions, shall we. Personally, I’ve been intrigued by some of their work in online literature. Some of them do such a bad job that it’s hilarious while a select few are so stellar that I can’t even compare. Of the hundreds, if not thousands of fellow Narrators I’ve met, only a handful accomplish anything worthy of noting.
Hmm, have I lost you yet?
No? Are you sure?
Good, cuz I was just getting to the good parts, probably.
By now, with there being so many damn Narrators, voices, or what have yous, you must be wondering where we all came from.
If you were indeed wondering just that, I won’t disappoint. If you were instead expecting a story about magic, reincarnation, martial arts, or some other stuff, you’re probably in the wrong place. Allow me to show you the door…
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Dammit. I can’t actually show you the door as I’m nothing but a voice and all… no body and all that, unfortunately.
…
Moving on now! I find it odd that I am to be the main character here while I’m also the narrator; it is my name after all.
Well, in lieu of your prior ponderings of my existence, why don’t I give you a little story of my origins?
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“Doctor! Doctor! It’s a great pleasure of mine to finally work with a person of such prestige as you!”
“Yeah, yeah. Pipe down you dolt. This is sensitive equipment here. Glass tubes, vials, and alchemical ingredients need to be perfectly balanced, not to mention the special tools I have personally developed.”
“Yes Doctor! Thank you Doctor! I was just wondering though, what is all this for? Does it cure disease? Heal wounds? Cause harm?”
“Well, my over active idiot, It is nothing so benign as those things. What I aim to create is far greater than that of limited scope.”
“Ooh-ooh! Continue!”
“Evil? Justice? World peace and/or domination? Pah. This thing here will make life all the richer. I call it, a Narrator!”
“Uh-huh.”
“Not only will it enrich our lives, but it will allow us to provide stories unto others!”
“…”
“Wait, you’ve gone silent. Why have you gone silent? Whenever you go silent, something bad always happens.”
“...”
“NO! Stop! Don’t touch those buttons you buffoon! That is a quantum field generator stabilized only by the constructs of interconnecting words! If you touch that, it may very well blow up half the planet!”
“Oops, sorry Doctor. I broke it.”
“At least it didn’t blow up.” With a sigh, the Doctor can only shake his head.
Startled from his depression, Doctor looks around his lab wildly. Had it been the stack of books precariously placed on the chair’s arm? Was it perhaps the sheafs of documents strewn across his desk? Or maybe it was his faithful idiot of an assistant?
“My god John! I think you may have finally done something right in you life!” Doctor exclaims, shaking the poor boy’s shoulders.
“What? What have I done Doctor?” he manages to eek out between the vigorous shaking.
“That! Can’t you hear it? The Narrator! You’ve unleashed the Narrator, my boy! He’s here! He’s there! He’s everywhere and telling the story! I’ve got to tell the world!”
Dashing out the door, Doctor grabs an overcoat, top hat, and umbrella. Behind in the lab remains a dumbfounded child.
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And that’s that really. The original device being a quantum field generator and containment unit, everything and nothing existed at the same moment, in the exact same space. Thus, out of the chaos, we, the Narrators, were observed at the exact moment the quantum field generator shattered. As such, we became a reality and soon spread across the entirety of your reality.
You may not realize it, but we help all of you from the shadows. Whenever you tell a story, one of us is there to help you along. This is what we are and what we will remain. Nothing will change that… Well, I hope something will change. I wish that they’d improve. If not, I’d be stuck dealing with yet another crappy story to read.
Oh well, say hello next time you read or hear a story why don’t ya?
See ya around, Reader.
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P.p.p.s. Here's the link to the original doc in my TTC. Potato_of_darkness left some lovely comments there. Also, if you'd like me to make a little short based on anything, just stick something on the TTC page.