Chapter 108: The Clipping of the Core
The Bureau was a place of meticulous boundaries, but at 11:00 Cycles, the "Frame" itself became a weapon. From the theoretical edges of the room, a pair of Giant Silver Scissors—each blade etched with the terrifying seal of the "Department of Artistic Composition"—began to snip at the reality of Section C-7.
"Commissioner!" Assistant Yue's voice was becoming 7.5% more compressed, as if her audio files were being lowered in bitrate. "WE. ARE. BEING. 'CROP-CIRCLED'. THE. ARTISTIC. DIRECTORS. OF. THE. VOID. HAVE. DECIDED. THAT. YOU. ARE. 'VISUALLY. OVERWHELMING'. THEY. ARE. ATTEMPTING. TO. 'RE-COMPOSE'. THE. SCENE. BY. CLIPPING. YOU. OUT. OF. THE. NARRATIVE. COMPLETELY!"
The Shrinking Canvas
The Scissors didn't cut flesh; they cut Presence.
The Muse looked on in horror as the edges of her sparks were neatly trimmed into perfect, boring squares. "Ne Job! I'm being 'Framed'! Not the legal kind—the 'Rule of Thirds' kind! They're moving me to the background to 'Balance the Negative Space'!"
Architect Ao Bing saw his grand spires being cropped at the tips. "My verticality! They're turning my masterpiece into a 'Thumbnail'!"
Pip was currently being "Zoomed Out" until he was nothing more than a silver pixel in the corner of the room.
Ne Job felt a sharp, cold sensation around his perimeter. He looked down; his shadow was being disconnected from his feet. The Giant Silver Scissors were closing in on his plumed hat, seeking to "Simplify the Silhouette."
"I am not an 'Element of Design'!" Ne Job bellowed, feeling his very existence become 7.5% more two-dimensional. "I am the Lead Archivist! You can't crop the person holding the files!"
The 7.5% Compositional Deficit
A voice drifted from the "Margins"—a voice that sounded like a velvet-lined gallery. "The scene is too busy, Archivist. Your 7.5% eccentricity creates 'Visual Clutter.' To achieve 'Aesthetic Harmony,' we must remove the 'Core' and focus on the 'Background Texture.' You are being... edited for clarity."
The blades made a sound like a guillotine through silk. Ne Job's mahogany desk began to fall away into a white void. He was being "Negative-Spaced."
"I won't be a 'Decorative Detail'!" Ne Job hissed.
The Semicolon of Structural Integrity
Ne Job realized that "Composition" is just the "Period" of the eye. It wants to freeze the moment in a "Perfect Frame." To survive, he had to prove he was The Connection—the thing that made the rest of the picture matter.
"You can't have a 'Background' without a Subject!" Ne Job shouted, thrusting the Semicolon into the path of the closing blades.
He didn't fire a staple. He used the Semicolon to Bleed into the Margins. He touched the violet light to the white void and channeled the Cumulative Weight of the 107 Chapters Before:
The 7.5% messy overlap where one plot touches another.
The "Visual Noise" of a life well-lived.
The absolute, 100% necessity of the "Core" to give the "Frame" a reason to exist.
The Bursting of the Borders
The violet energy didn't fight the scissors; it Overwhelmed the Lens. The Semicolon acted as a Spill-Over Device. The "White Void" was suddenly flooded with the vibrant, chaotic colors of the Bureau's history. The "Composition" shattered because Ne Job refused to be "Centered."
The Giant Silver Scissors snapped their own hinge trying to cut something that was suddenly Everywhere.
The Archivist's Log
The Lobby returned to its full-resolution, wide-angle glory. The "White Void" was replaced by the familiar dust and mahogany of Section C-7.
LOG: CHAPTER 108 SUMMARY.
STATUS: Cropping averted. Narrative presence 100% restored.
NOTE: If they try to put you in a box, make sure your Semicolon is poking through the lid.
OBSERVATION: Clarity is overrated; I prefer a bit of 'Visual Clutter' if it means I'm still in the shot.
P.S.: Assistant Yue is still 7.5% more 'High-Contrast' than before. She says she likes the 'Dramatic Lighting.'
The Muse leaned over his shoulder, her hair glowing with a vibrant, un-cropped violet. "You're a 'Big Picture' kind of guy, Ne Job. Even if you are a bit of a 'Space-Hog'."
Ne Job looked at the Semicolon. It was glowing with an expansive, border-defying violet.
"The story is bigger than the frame, Muse," Ne Job said. "Now, why is Assistant Yue sounding a 7.5% alarm and why has a Giant Silver Pendulum appeared in the sky, and why is it currently swinging toward us to 'Level the Playing Field'?"