Chapter 55: The Long-Distance Call
In the Bureau of Cosmic Alignment, the emergency rotary phone—a heavy, bakelite beast the color of an ink-stained nightmare—hadn't rung since the "Great Punctuation Strike" of the First Draft. It sat under a bell jar in the center of the Grand Lobby, disconnected from any physical wire.
At 03:33 Cycles, it didn't just ring. It howled.
The sound was a 100% frequency of pure loneliness, vibrating the silver ink right out of the wells and causing Barnaby the dragon to tuck his head under his wing.
"Commissioner!" Assistant Yue's typewriter carriage slammed back and forth in a panic. "THE. LINE. IS. ACTIVE. THE. SIGNAL. IS. COMING. FROM. OUTSIDE. THE. MARGINS. IT. IS. A. COLLECT. CALL. FROM... THE. VOID."
The Ringing Abyss
Ne Job reached for the receiver, but his hand was repelled by a 7.5% static charge that smelled of ozone and forgotten birthdays. "I can't lift it! The narrative weight is too heavy! It requires someone with zero 'Legacy Gravity'!"
Architect Ao Bing tried, but his "Structural Importance" made him too rigid. The Muse tried, but her "Creative Spark" nearly blew the fuse of the entire building.
"I'll do it," Pip said, stepping forward. The Intern looked smaller than usual against the glowing red of the phone, their very small wrench tucked behind their ear. "I don't have a tragic backstory or a grand destiny yet. I'm just... Pip."
The Intern's Ear
Pip lifted the receiver. The howling stopped instantly, replaced by a silence so deep it felt like the Bureau had been plunged underwater.
"Hello?" Pip whispered.
The rest of the team held their breath. From the earpiece, a voice drifted out—not a scary voice, but one that sounded like the wind blowing through an empty cathedral.
"Is... is the 'And' still there?" the Void asked. "I saw the Golden Period... I thought the story had ended. I've been sitting here in the dark, waiting for the 'The End' sign so I could finally go to sleep."
"The 'And' is definitely still here," Pip said, their voice steady. "We've got a dragon, a disco-galaxy, and a High Commissioner who is 7.5% cranky but 100% determined. We aren't closing up shop anytime soon."
The Void's Complaint
"But I'm empty," the Void sighed, and a cold draft blew through the Lobby, freezing the coffee in Ne Job's mug. "The Page is so white. It's lonely being the part of the story that doesn't get written. I want to be... included. I want a 7.5% stake in the 'Celestial Clockwork'."
"We can't include the Void!" Ao Bing hissed. "The Void is the absence of structure! If we let it in, the walls will become 'Perhaps' and the floor will become 'Maybe Not'!"
Ne Job looked at Pip, who was nodding as if they were listening to a long-winded aunt.
"He just wants to be a Margin, Commissioner," Pip said, covering the mouthpiece. "He's tired of being the 'Nothing.' He wants to be the 'Border' that keeps the words from falling off the edge of reality."
The 7.5% Frame
Ne Job realized that the Void wasn't an enemy; it was the Canvas. Without the dark, the silver ink had nothing to shine against.
"Tell him," Ne Job commanded, "that we are opening a new department: The Department of Outer Boundaries. He will be the frame that holds our 'Infinite Addendum' together. He gets to be the black border on every page."
Pip relayed the message. The receiver glowed a soft, contented violet.
"A frame?" the Void whispered. "I could be a frame. I could be the silence between the chapters. I like that. It sounds... architectural."
The Line Goes Dead
With a soft click, the connection severed. The rotary phone turned back into an inert lump of bakelite. The cold draft vanished, replaced by the warm, oily scent of Yue's typewriter.
The Bureau felt different. The edges of the rooms were sharper, defined by a thin, elegant line of "Nothingness" that made the "Somethingness" of the office look 100% more vibrant.
LOG: CHAPTER 55 SUMMARY.
STATUS: Call from the Void processed. Outer Boundaries established.
NOTE: Pip is officially promoted to 'Senior Communications Officer' (with a 0.5% raise in sugar-rations).
OBSERVATION: Sometimes the biggest threats just need someone to pick up the phone and listen.
P.S.: The Void promised not to eat the 'Department of Atmosphere' as long as we keep the margins wide.
The Muse leaned over Pip's shoulder, looking at the phone. "What else did he say, Pip? When the rest of us couldn't hear?"
Pip looked at their very small wrench and smiled. "He said the Author is starting to outline Chapter 56... and it involves a Time-Travel Paradox involving a lost umbrella."
Ne Job groaned. "Not the umbrella again."