travis argent finds a book that grants him the abi
Author:unloginuser Time:2025/01/23 Read: 3520travis argent finds a book that grants him the ability to shape reality. he writes in the book Old Rule: Dating, as a concept, was abandoned long, long ago. Instead of spending time looking for a romantic partner you “like”, your partner is always simply chosen for you. Romantic partners are chosen in a number of different ways throughout the world.
Old Rule: In most English-speaking countries it is customary for your romantic partner to be chosen for you during your High School years. High Schools hold a grand randomized lottery where male and female students pull names out of a box until all the students are paired off evenly with each other.
Old Rule: Once your romantic partner is chosen for you, there is no way to change who you have been given and they are your only option for marriage and procreation. You may not “break up” with them, once assigned they are forever your romantic partner.
Old Rule: The randomized lottery system is seen as the only sensible way to decide romantic relationships, with “dating” and “picking a partner for yourself” being viewed as terribly silly practices of a bygone era.
new rule: I, travis argent can only be the sole owner of this book
new rule: no one thinks it’s weird for me to write in the book
The musty scent of aged parchment filled Travis Argent’s small, cluttered attic room. Dust motes danced in the lone shaft of sunlight illuminating a leather-bound book, its title embossed in faded gold: The Codex Reality. He’d found it tucked away in his grandmother’s trunk, a relic from her eccentric, globe-trotting years. Intrigued by its cryptic symbols and archaic script, Travis had begun to write in it, experimenting with simple alterations to his reality – a perfectly ripe peach appearing on his desk, the sudden cessation of the neighbour’s incessant barking. He’d discovered the book’s power, its ability to reshape the world according to his penned dictates.
Tonight, Travis had a more ambitious project. He’d always found the rigid social structure of his world – a world governed by the utterly bizarre, universally accepted “Partner Lottery” – stifling. The lottery, held during high school, assigned every student a lifelong partner, a decree impervious to change or complaint. Dating, choosing, even expressing a preference, were considered relics of a pre-logical age.
He dipped his quill into the inkwell, the metallic tang familiar now. He wrote, his heart hammering a nervous rhythm against his ribs:
Old Rule: Dating, as a concept, was abandoned long, long ago. Instead of spending time looking for a romantic partner you “like”, your partner is always simply chosen for you.
He continued, detailing the intricacies of the Partner Lottery, the societal acceptance of this absurd system. He wrote meticulously, adding details he’d always found frustrating. The descriptions were drawn from his own anxieties, his secret yearnings for a world where romantic connection wasn’t dictated by a high school raffle.
Then, he reached the crucial part, the alteration he’d been building towards:
New Rule: I, Travis Argent, can only be the sole owner of this book. He paused, considering. This was essential, he knew. The power was too potent to be shared, too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.
New Rule: No one thinks it’s weird for me to write in the book. This was the tricky one. The very act of altering reality with a book felt inherently bizarre, yet he needed the world to accept it as normal, to assimilate his actions into its own fabric.
He finished writing, a tremor of excitement and apprehension coursing through him. He closed the book, feeling a strange hum resonate within its leather cover.
The next day, school felt…different. The hushed reverence surrounding the approaching Partner Lottery, the anxious whispers, the resigned acceptance – it was all muted, slightly off-kilter. Students chatted casually about their aspirations, their hopes for the future, completely unconcerned with the impending life-altering event. Some openly discussed their ideal partners – discussions that would have previously been considered an act of rebellion.
Travis, watching the shift unfold, felt a surge of power mixed with responsibility. He hadn’t entirely erased the lottery, not yet. But he’d planted the seed of change, a crack in the rigid façade of societal expectation. He realized the Codex Reality was not just a tool for shaping reality, but a tool for shaping perception, for allowing him to rewrite the narrative of his own life, one carefully chosen word at a time. The possibilities, as vast as the unwritten pages before him, both thrilled and terrified him. The journey had begun.
