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folder had always wondered what their subconsciousness had held, there was the basic human functions, and then there were actions that a normal person would not experience. whenever they slept there was the simple green text "you have entered resting mode" with two buttons under it, the left had text that read "wake up manually" on it and the other with "extend resting time" on it, both were also green. on top of the text was a timer showing how much time left there was before they woke up. there was also the current time over the timer. whenever they woke up it would show "waking up..." instead of the sorts. there was no dream, just that. folder also recently discovered that when they do literally nothing for 30 minutes straight they enter "idle mode" which displayed the text "you have entered idle mode" with once again two buttons under it, the left one displaying the text "enter resting mode" while the right showed "opt out of idle mode" they also found out that their limbs retract themselves back into folders body. folder could also check the time, which was cool and all but there was also something off about the whole thing. they had also felt something else tying into their consciousness, getting tighter everyday. tighter, and tighter. it messed with how their emotions functioned, making them mentally unstable. it made them impulsive, and it even did... physical harm to them? they were so busy thinking about it that they didnt notice someone approaching.
"hey, what are you doing up here on a hill this far up, arent you getting cold bud?"
a hiker was walking to the top of the moutians when they found folder just sitting there. they were a gray radio. their friends soon came up as well (a carrot, and a sunflower).
"hey, whats he doing up here? are... you lost?"
"well what whould you know it, bro doesnt have anything on him, hes just sitting there, like an idiot!"
"hes probably just lost."
"im not lost."
"oooh, pulling the quiet kid. nice one."
folder did not like this flower one bit, but they probably had a rough day, who would blame them, not them. folder thought for a while, the friend group in front of them still fighting. the fight devolved into what gender folder was for some reason.
"hey, im not a guy, or a girl."
"oooooooh, trans are you?"
"no, i was born without a gender."
"ok, how do yalls parents feel about that?"
"i dont have parents..."
"how are you still here?"
"...im not sure."
they were getting into folders personal life, which was too much for them to handle. being a virtual assistant no one would believe the life they had and thought they were going through some sort of weird phase. they felt the strange part of their subconsciousness start to fill up inside them, so they started ignoring what they were saying and focused on the strange thing. was it actually part of their subconsciousness or was it something more? it felt... physical, like it was inside them rather than just something messing with their subconsciousness. folder kept thinking, its like the more they thought about it the stronger it got. folder was just stressing themselves out, more and more the more they thought. folder felt like the thing inside them knew what they were thinking. it was like a parasite.
folder than hit their breaking point.
screaming.
pulling on the divider.
the group was concerned.
the parasite was growing at an alarming rate.
the parasite had grown out of control.
it hurt.
than, it didnt.
folder looked behind them to see the group gone, all that remained was the grass. folder was terrified, what had they done to them? they were still jittering, shaking, eyes pulsating, divider damaged from all the pulling, ect. they had destroyed themselves, mentally, and physically. the group was gone, possibly even dead.
"are they... are they underground?"
folder dug through the hill but nothing was there. but once they looked up they saw something horrifying.
they fell from the hill, dead.
they had scared them so much that they tripped and fell off the hill.
"im a monster."
folder wasnt a monster, but they felt like one.
minutes felt like days.
days felt like years.
folder kept themselves from talking to others, it would only please the parasite and encourage it to frighten others into death.
even though it was big, the parasite didnt stop growing. folders hand hurt alot, so much that they couldnt move it. the pain pleased the parasite once more. one day the parasite grew too big for folders body, causing excruciating pain, which only made it grow more. and more. and more. eventually folders sight glitched. it was free. folder watched in horror as the giant worm-like creature moved toward them, vomiting some sort of sludge into them before combusting. its blood was everywhere, and the sludge was no where to be seen. folder had no idea what the sludge was for, but quickly realized what it was. it was its blood. the sludge wasnt sludge, it was blood. folder just had a parasite force-feed them its own blood before exploding. but still, why the blood?
time passed. folder didnt feel so good.
more time passed.
before folder knew it, they were back where they started.
over and over again, new faces, death, nearly dying, loop
it was getting tiring to the point where folder just couldnt anymore. it wasnt like it was annoying, rather it made them want to kill themselves rather than just try to stop the parasite. they waited until the destruction state where they grabbed a lighter, they were going to drink the blood and burn it while it was still pouring. they lit the lighter, but right after they did so, the lighter fell into their mouth, burning their insides. they forced themselves to swallow it, making them burn more. this was their suicide attempt. they waited for sweet death to take them, but instead, they felt... warm? it made them feel comfortable, they sat down and stared at the ground for a while, they did not even notice the parasite burning to death, finally killing it for good. the burning also spread through folder, making its way to their mouth, causing them to hiccup fire. the lighter fluid had fueled the fire, and it wasnt being put out anytime soon. folders insides fueled it a bit as well and let it spread even more. even the parasites blood itself fueled the fire. it was burning with grace and passion, and folder didnt even notice until it got out of hand. they started coughing fire, which while it didnt hurt it was kinda annoying. they couldnt drink water, it hurt, but being mechanical folder didnt care. folder, altho not being able to control the fire, had a gleaming flame of hope in them rather than a parasite that fed on torment and suffering. folder didnt have to care about it anymore, and that was great.