the thread-singer weaves a grievance into sharp, resonant frequency. its cry summons, naming the target and opening the first psychic wound for the swarm.

the echo-kin arrive, drawn to fresh blood on the network. they repeat the initial charge, amplifying its power until it achieves gravitational pull.

the conviction-worn mass together, armored in borrowed certainty. they overwhelm the target's spirit with sheer weight of collective judgment.

the salt-scribes move through the wreckage, collecting digital bones and artifacts, creating permanent curse that prevents forgetting.

the server racks whined, a discordant choir pitched just below hearing.
row after row of blinking status lights, green, amber, mostly amber.
my head throbbed with the bad coffee and the sheer density of machine presence.
a stray ethernet cable, blue like a vein, snaked across the raised floor.
i caught my heel.
pitched forward.
the impact against the perforated metal panel sent a shockwave through my jaw.
corrupted pixels blooming behind my eyes.
then the quiet stream.
text appearing on the dark screen of my inner sight.
`alert: proprioceptive_drift_exceeds_threshold.`
`initiating_sensory_recalibration_cycle_7.3.`
`concurrent_process_fault: user_dreamstate_interface_module_critical_error.`
`memory_read_error_at_address_0x7ffc8a4d3b00.`
`data_fragment_retrieved_from_unallocated_sector:`
`"...and the watchers whispered of the pattern behind the pattern..."`
`end_fragment.`
`reboot_pending_ocular_input_stabilization.`
the whirring of the fans slowly returned.
my cheekbone ached against the cold floor.

barrie mapped his own unlived childhood onto the davies children's lives. peter pan became the ultimate projection, a boy who never aged, mirroring his deep-seated wish.

the relationship possessed proto-parasocial fervor, blurring boundaries between benefactor and participant in their youth. he needed their childhood almost as much as they lived it.

adult deep dives into media for very young children touch this nerve of arrested development or vicarious innocence. barrie's investment suggests a consuming desire to sculpt and own a version of youth. imagination became his method for enacting this complex, shadowed need.