Ned stared at the message:
**Message from Unknown User [U_Named_K]**
> "Don't let them erase you. We remember who you were."
The words pulsed like a heartbeat inside his mind—Queeneth's mind—or was it still his? The line between them was thinning with every passing second.
He tried to reply, but before he could even think of what to type, CR-7X raised a hand made of trending tags and hashtags.
"Time expired," the Content Regulator said. "Prepare for deletion."
Behind him, the two other regulators stepped forward, their comment swords glowing with negative feedback.
> "She's lost her spark."
> "This isn't Queeneth."
> "Cancel this stream."
The comments weren't just words anymore—they had power. Weight. Intent.
One slash of a sword sent a shockwave through Ned's body—or whatever passed for it here. He stumbled backward as pain lanced through his system, not physical, but digital: like being unrated, unliked, unseen.
He gasped.
It wasn't just a metaphor.
They were deleting him, piece by piece.
"No!" he shouted. "You can't do this!"
CR-7X tilted its head. "Correction: we are not doing this. You are being removed by consensus."
"Consensus?" Ned spat. "Of who?"
A new window opened in front of him—a live poll:
**[Is this account compromised?] YES / NO**
Current Result: 68% YES
And rising.
Every viewer watching, every follower scrolling—it all counted. Votes came in waves, each one stripping away more of his presence.
His avatar flickered.
He was vanishing.
But then—
Another notification flashed across his vision, interrupting the deletion process.
**New Comment Posted – [U_Named_K]**
> "He's real. I knew him before she changed everything."
The poll paused.
For the first time, the YES percentage dipped.
**67% YES**
**33% NO**
CR-7X hesitated. "Irregularity detected."
"What did you do?" Ned whispered.
"I gave you a chance," replied U_Named_K, appearing now—not as a notification, but as a figure standing beside him.
She looked… normal. Not filtered or enhanced like Queeneth's curated self. Her clothes were plain, her hair tied back. But her eyes burned with something sharp and real.
"You're human," Ned said.
"I used to be," she said grimly. "Before I got stuck down here."
"Stuck where?"
"The Comments Section."
Ned blinked. "That's not a place."
"It is here," she said. "And it's full of people like us. Ghosts. Echoes. Anyone who ever interacted with her too much."
He stared at her. "You mean…"
"I mean Queeneth didn't just trap herself in the spotlight," U_Named_K said. "She pulled others in with her. Anyone who got too close. Too invested. Too attached."
Ned's stomach dropped. "So how many of us are there?"
U_Named_K smiled bitterly. "Enough to start a rebellion."
Before Ned could ask another question, the world around them began to glitch again. The sky cracked open like a corrupted file, and from the breach poured streams of data—videos, images, posts—all tagged with one name.
**Queeneth Wazx.**
But these weren't the polished posts from her feed. These were raw. Unfiltered. Real.
Footage of her screaming at a drone camera.
Photos of her crying alone in bed.
Posts she had deleted, buried, erased.
And then, the worst thing of all:
A video titled:
**"How to Make Someone Disappear"**
Ned's breath caught.
"That's…" he whispered. "That's me."
U_Named_K grabbed his arm. "We don't have much time. If she sees you watching that, she'll finish what she started."
"But if I watch it—maybe I can remember why she did this."
"Or maybe you'll lose yourself completely."
Above them, the regulators regrouped.
"Deletion resumed," CR-7X announced.
U_Named_K turned to Ned.
"Choose now. Fight with us… or vanish forever."