Episode 8: Confessions of Quel and Jo
Quel is at her parents' house, running in safe_mode.exe. The silence is broken by a message from Jo, demanding an urgent meeting.
Jo: Quel, I need to talk to you! It's about the band's future! Come to my apartment! I won't hurt you! It's not about our relationship.
Quel mistrusts him for a moment, processing the risks, but decides to trust the "old Jo" still inhabiting that system.
Quel: Alright, I'll be there shortly... if you lay a hand on me, I'm activating my reinforced security protocols.
Quel arrives at Apartment 28. The door opens. Jo looks at her and crumbles. He tries to maintain his posture, but the system fails.
Jo: (Crying) I promised you it wasn't about us, but... just seeing you...
Jo breaks down, tears streaming. He takes a deep breath, forcing an emotional reboot, and returns to the subject.
Jo: Quel, are you kicking me out of the group? Is that corporate worm Bro deleting me??? If you broke up with me to be with him, I'll tear him apart and he will never forget my fists, do you hear me??
Quel despairs at his instability. The atmosphere grows heavy, as if the air is charged with static.
Quel: Jo, no! Are you crazy???
Quel: Jo... you are my CORRUPTED FILE!
I will FORMAT YOU—
—until you FORGET MY NAME!
Jo: (With lethal coldness)
You want to ERASE ME? Fine.
But I am your SOURCE CODE, Quel—
Your riffs, your screams,
YOUR DAMNED LEGACY! Delete me...
and YOUR BAND DIES WITH ME!
Quel: I will rebuild everything from ONES AND ZEROS!
New vocals, new weapons! You are just BAD SECTORS—
—in my KINGDOM OF DUST!
Jo: FORMAT ME IF YOU DARE! I AM THE VIRUS IN YOUR AIR!
KILL ME? YOU KILL YOURSELF! WE ARE THE BINARY HELL!
I am your FIRST SONG, your LAST ERROR,
Your PRAISE in every pause! Press 'DELETE'— AND I WILL DESTROY YOUR DESTINY!
WARNING: CRITICAL FAILURE.
CONTINUE? (Y/N)
Quel: NO!!! You win! Whether I'm with Broklin or not, the choice is mine, not yours!
Quel lowers her guard, her voice trembling but firm.
Quel: I don't have the courage to format you! Because only someone with true love for you has that capacity. Since I don't have it, I cannot format you. Only the woman who loves you can.
Jo: (Confused) What?? Do you know this woman??
Quel: I do. She is the woman you've described in your dreams.
Jo: The beautiful woman with silver hair and an angelic gaze I called Cyber Angel? Hah! Dreams are dreams, right, Quel!! Hahaha... I wish it were true.
Little does he know that, in that stuffy room, Quel is reading the code of his destiny without him realizing it... This woman exists.
Quel: Well, Jo. Message received. You stay in the band and... please, don't mess with Broklin. If you mess with him, you mess with me!!
Jo: Uh-huh... but I don't accept being with fake friends who don't keep their word! IF YOU HAVE A SECRET, DON'T TELL IT! If you tell, trust is broken.
Quel: And what did you tell him?
Jo: That he's not to hit on you...
Quel: Ahahah… aaaaahhh but he has his own schemes... nonsense! You're just jealous as always... and that suffocated me. Anyway, I'm leaving… don't go looking for me at his place, hear me?!
Jo: If you don't live with him, why would I go there?
Quel leaves the apartment with a sense of duty fulfilled, leaving a man and his ghosts behind. Jo closes the door, but Quel's last sentence echoes in his processor like a pending command.
The access key to format Jo would be...
true_love.exe
💀[RUST ALERT]: GENDER UPDATE DETECTED
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