Threadless : A growing novel

Chapter 64: Threadless — Chapter 57 — “Split Genres”



"Every character has a version they never want read out loud."

🔹 The Aftershock

The tone quake hadn't ended — it had merely fractured.

The academy now existed in overlapping genre zones, each one breaking off into its own logic.

The courtyard remained a whiplash of transitions:

One half turned into a pastel slice-of-life lunch scene

The other half dripped with horror fog and distant breathing

In the center, a bench flickered — sometimes real,sometimes sketched, sometimes a metaphor.

Students who walked between zones stumbled — crying in comedy, laughing in tragedy, or forgetting their names entirely.

"The structure's collapsing by tone," Aro said.

"It's not just a rewrite anymore. The genres are fighting."

🔹 The Splits Begin

The quake hit the main cast.

They didn't scatter — they fragmented.

Each was now surrounded by a splintered genre version of themselves:

🟥 Mei: Sci-Fi / Mystery Variant

She found herself in a dark, blinking corridor.

Wearing black gloves and carrying a gun that fires truth.

A voiceover played in her head:

"Detective Mei had solved 143 cases. But the 144th was personal."

She whispered to herself:

"This isn't me. But I… know how she thinks."

Her original thread hovered behind her — faint, uncertain.

🟦 Kaen: Romance / Idol Drama Variant

Kaen stood in front of a roaring crowd.

She held a glowing mic. Her new name was "Kai." She was smiling too wide.

Lines of dialogue appeared above her head:

"I'll protect everyone with my voice! And maybe… fall in love on stage?"

She snapped the mic in half.

"Absolutely not."

But her thread resisted — asking her to perform.

She walked into the crowd anyway.

And disappeared through the illusion.

🟨 Aro: Shounen Action Variant

Aro woke on a rooftop, shirt ripped, glowing tattoos pulsing on his arms.

In front of him, a boss-class villain screamed:

"If you want to protect your friends, you'll have to evolve, Aro!"

Aro narrowed his eyes.

"You're not real.

You're the version of me they thought would sell better."

He jumped off the roof — and landed back in the present hallway.

🟩 Rin: Melancholy Slice-of-Life Variant

She stood in a quiet classroom. Rain outside.

Everything was still. Soft.

A teacher approached her gently.

"You've been very brave, Rin. Maybe it's time to rest."

She looked down at her desk.

No books.

Just a thread. Wound tight.

Her name written on it — barely readable.

She turned and whispered:

"No."

And the window shattered.

🔹 The True Form Emerging

The genre walls began to crack permanently.

One of the draft zones showed a massive shadow forming — stitched together from bits of every version.

Something was trying to reform into a unified tone.

Not the original.

A new, enforced singularity.

"They're going to overwrite everything into one genre," Mei said as she regrouped.

"That's how they erase deviation. They call it 'recovery.'"

Kaen walked beside her, eyes glowing.

"Then we don't just survive this."

"We burn the idea that they ever controlled tone."

🔹 Closing Scene — Elu & Weaver

Elu stood in the observatory, watching the genre rift open.

Weaver's voice echoed in strands of digital lace:

"Unstable tones compromise narrative strength. We must converge."

Elu replied, for the first time with a sharp tone:

"You built characters, then punished them for coloring outside the border."

"Now they're writing in shades you never invented."


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