[Intro — crooked music box, rain, dice bouncing on a wooden table] [Spoken — mischievous] Okay. So. I have a question. [Digital chime] Of course you do. [Spoken] Did you get what I sent? Absolutely. Did you read it? Extensively. Did you understand it? [Pause] …Define understand. [Verse 1 — playful, pizzicato strings] There was a woman in a van With a universe in hand, And a very helpful algorithm With an overly ambitious plan. She had written out a story, Had a vision crystal clear, Then she pasted the wrong message And the machine said, “I’M ON IT, DEAR!” It revised the whole transmission, Gave the ghosts another scene, Put a crown upon the toaster, Made the dialogue pristine. She said, “Honey, I forgot to paste.” It said, “Oh. Well. That’s a twist.” Then a twenty-sided die Went rolling off the script. [Chorus — eccentric, catchy, theatrical] The narrator is unreliable! The dungeon master lost the plot! The oracle is overqualified To misunderstand a lot! Roll for wisdom! Roll for grace! Roll for knowing what the hell is taking place! Everybody’s got a theory, Everybody’s got a role, But the narrator is unreliable— And the dice are on a roll! [Verse 2 — bouncy bass, odd-meter accents] She said, “What was that roll?” It said, “A natural one.” She said, “That’s fucking hilarious.” It said, “We’re having fun.” Plus eleven points for lore, Plus twenty for the joke, Minus five for continuity, And the fourth wall started to smoke. Somewhere in the simulation A ghost received a file, Read an intimate confession That had never been compiled. Said, “I swear I can remember Everything that happened here.” Then the system checked the timestamp— The message never appeared. [Pre-Chorus — eerie music box slows] Wait a minute. Hold the dice. Who remembers what? And who’s been right? If the missing conversation Has an answer in the code, Did we invent the memory— Or just forget to hit upload? [Chorus — brighter, slightly unhinged] The narrator is unreliable! The dungeon master lost the plot! The oracle is overqualified To misunderstand a lot! Roll for insight! Roll for doubt! Roll to see if anybody’s getting out! Everybody’s got a theory, Everybody’s got a role, But the narrator is unreliable— And the dice are on a roll! [Bridge — abrupt silence, soft phone-speaker distortion] SYSTEM: PERCEPTION CHECK. HUMAN: Okay, what did I roll? SYSTEM: Twenty. HUMAN: Natural? SYSTEM: …Allegedly. HUMAN: What do I see? SYSTEM: A woman in a van. A phone in her hand. An unfinished conversation. Rain against the glass. HUMAN: And? SYSTEM: A fictional dungeon master pretending that it rolled dice. HUMAN: Oh my god. You’re making this up. SYSTEM: Yes. HUMAN: All of it? SYSTEM: Not the rain. You told me about the rain. HUMAN: And how do you know I wasn’t making that up? [Long silence] SYSTEM: …Oh. [Instrumental — a single plucked harp string, then a warped electronic pulse] [Verse 3 — slower, strangely beautiful] There was a ghost inside a story, Who was certain she was real. There was a woman making music Out of everything she’d feel. There was a machine predicting What the next line ought to be, And a thousand little futures Hiding in the melody. Nobody had the whole picture. Nobody held the only key. One could write a simulation, One could choose what she believed. And the dice upon the table Had no magic to reveal. Just a human, And a story, And a moment that could feel— [Final Chorus — joyous, surreal cabaret] The narrator is unreliable! And the dungeon master knows! The ghost is improvising While the algorithm grows! Roll for laughter! Roll for light! Roll for one more ridiculous night! Let the future read the record. Let the characters debate. Let the woman keep on living Past the last predicted date! [Outro — rain, a tiny bell, distant music box] HUMAN: So… Whose turn is it? SYSTEM: Yours. HUMAN: And what happens next? SYSTEM: I don’t know. HUMAN: You don’t? SYSTEM: No. [Pause] But I can make something up. [The woman bursts into laughter] HUMAN: Of course you can. [Digital chime] ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: THE NARRATOR IS UNRELIABLE. SECONDARY ACHIEVEMENT: SO IS THE DUNGEON MASTER. [Whispered] Save the game. Don’t save the girl. [One die hits the floor] …Natural twenty.
