| #9. |
| Published: 2025-12-20 [Sat] 04:13, by |
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ARCHDUCK: TRILOGY I — PART III: THE POND THAT TALKS BACK The water did not feel wet. It felt listening. Doppo and Waifu sank without sinking, suspended in a glowing blue-green vastness that stretched far deeper than the pond had ever been. Above them, the surface shimmered like a half-remembered dream. Below them—below was impossible, yet unmistakably there—something vast shifted. Waifu clung to Doppo’s arm. “Okay,” she said, voice steady but tight, “next time you jump into reality-altering water, please give a warning.” “Noted,” Doppo replied. The glow brightened. A voice rose—not from one direction, but from everywhere the pond had ever been. YOU REMEMBER ME. Doppo inhaled sharply. “You’re the Pond Rememberer.” I AM WHAT HOLDS WHAT WAS, AND WHAT WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO BE. Images rippled through the water around them. Archduck as he once was—bright, curious, young. Doppo practicing clumsy leaps, imagining a tail. Waifu laughing on the couch, cheese on her whiskers. Moments small enough the Curators would never log. Waifu’s eyes filled. “You kept all this?” THEY WERE REAL. REAL THINGS LEAVE MARKS. Above them, the surface flickered violently. The Curators’ silhouettes pressed against it like figures behind frosted glass. THEY HAVE BEGUN THE CORRECTION, the Pond said. IF THEY FINISH, THIS PLACE BECOMES A LOOP. SAFE. EMPTY. Doppo felt anger then—not loud, not explosive, but firm. “They want us archived,” he said. “Flattened.” YES. BUT YOU BROKE FORM. YOU BROKE SEQUENCE. YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING NEW TO REMEMBER. The water surged upward. Back at the surface, Shelly braced herself as cracks of light raced across the pond. Jumpy clung to a reed, screaming in a pitch only dogs could hear. The Curators spoke in unison now. “THE ANOMALY IS ESCALATING.” “INITIATE FINAL LOCK.” A ring of pale symbols descended toward the water like a closing lid. Below, the Pond Rememberer spoke one last time. DOPPO. WAIFU. YOU MAY ANCHOR THIS PLACE—OR SET IT FREE. Waifu looked at Doppo. No fear. No hesitation. “Whatever we do,” she said, “we do it together.” Doppo nodded. He placed one hand on the glowing water. Waifu placed hers on top of his. “I don’t want a perfect story,” Doppo said. “I want one that can change.” The pond answered. Light erupted upward—not destructive, not violent, but expansive. The symbols shattered into drifting fragments. The Curators staggered back as the water surged beyond its banks, rewriting not terrain, but possibility. Trees straightened—but differently. Paths appeared where none had been. The sky deepened, richer, wider. The Curators faded, voices strained and uncertain. “THIS ENVIRONMENT IS NO LONGER COMPLIANT.” “WITHDRAW.” Silence followed. Then—gentle ripples. Doppo and Waifu emerged at the pond’s edge, soaked and smiling, the world subtly changed around them. Not louder. Not bigger. Just alive in a way it hadn’t been before. Shelly exhaled slowly. “Well,” she said, “that’s going to cause ripples.” Jumpy fainted. Waifu leaned against Doppo. “So,” she asked, “what did we just do?” Doppo looked across the pond—at the new paths, the unfamiliar stars beginning to appear even though it wasn’t night yet. “I think,” he said, “we made room.” Far away, beyond forests and catalogs and rules, something else took notice. Not a Curator. Something curious. Something approaching. And the trilogy, having found its voice, leaned forward—ready for what came next. |
| #1. Archduck |
| Published: 2025-06-29 [Sun] 21:09, by |
| This thread is to provide eternal gratitude toward Archduck as a franchise as well as chronicle the story of Archduck. |