[TV Studio – Late Afternoon]
The studio lights were bright, harsh, and unnervingly sterile.
A live audience buzzed with anticipation as "CinePulse: Behind the Reel" prepared to broadcast an exclusive interview with Elian Verris, the mysterious breakout director whose film was taking the indie circuit by storm.
The host, Veena Kapoor—a sharp veteran known for digging deep—sat opposite Elian, notes shuffled, heels crossed, smile professionally warm.
Behind the cameras, his team stood ready.
Shaan, Miraal, Arya, and even the producer hovered, uneasy.
This wasn't a scripted moment.
This was live.
And Elian hadn't been himself since the train scene.
---
[POV: Miraal – Backstage]
Miraal leaned close to Shaan, whispering.
> "He shouldn't be doing this right now."
"He insisted," Shaan replied, jaw tight. "Said it would 'seal investor confidence.' Whatever that means."
She crossed her arms. "He hasn't slept properly in three days. What if something slips?"
---
[On Camera]
The intro theme faded.
Veena beamed at the camera. "Tonight, we sit with the man rewriting what it means to tell a story: Elian Verris, director of Echo Maze—the film that's making waves even before its festival debut."
Polite applause.
Elian offered a small nod, hands folded in his lap.
> "Thank you for having me."
His voice was even. Too even.
Veena launched into practiced questions—origins, influences, casting choices.
Elian answered smoothly. Detached, but intelligent.
Until she asked:
> "There's a lot of emotional subtext in your film. Themes of memory loss, suppressed grief. Are those personal touches, or just creative metaphors?"
The system pulsed softly in his vision.
[ Emotional Fragment Detected – 'Backstage Collapse'
Status: Pressurized
Suggested Action: Defer / Excuse
Risk of Live Bleed: High ]
He hesitated for just a second too long.
Veena noticed.
So did the camera.
> "You okay?" she asked, voice softening slightly.
Elian blinked once.
> "The maze scene wasn't written originally. It… emerged. From somewhere I didn't expect."
Veena tilted her head. "Somewhere personal?"
He looked straight into the camera.
And everything blurred.
---
[Memory Triggered – Fragment: Backstage Collapse]
It was a small theater.
Dim lights. A youth playhouse. Barely fifty seats.
Backstage, a younger Elian—maybe twenty—was crouched beside an actor.
She was breathing fast.
Too fast.
> "I—I can't remember the second act," she said, panic rising.
Her name was Meera. His first lead. Someone bright, shaky, brimming with raw talent.
> "The audience is out there," she whispered. "I can hear them. They'll know I'm a fraud."
Elian had knelt, taken her hands.
> "They came for the story," he'd said. "Not the lines. You are the story."
It worked—barely.
She got through it.
But later, she collapsed in the alley behind the theater from anxiety and heatstroke. No ambulance ever came. And no one remembered her name in the reviews the next day.
He did.
Every day.
He tried to write her in again later. Gave up halfway.
---
[Back to Present – Live Broadcast]
His throat was dry.
His fingers had curled into fists.
But he forced his voice to stay steady.
> "There was someone once—young, brilliant—who trusted me with their first performance. I thought telling her story again would honor her. I was wrong."
Veena paused, lips parting slightly.
> "Wrong how?"
Elian exhaled slowly. "Because I didn't remember her name until this week."
Silence.
Even the production crew froze.
He looked into the lens again, eyes no longer distant.
"Films aren't made to immortalize talent. They're made to make sure we don't forget people like her."
---
[POV: Arya – Watching Offstage]
Arya felt something stir in her chest.
She had never seen Elian like this—unguarded, cracked but steady.
Whatever was driving him, it wasn't ego.
It was guilt.
Purpose.
Maybe both.
---
[After the Show]
The segment aired for just twelve minutes.
But social media caught fire within the hour.
Clips were reposted under titles like:
"The Director Who Forgot a Name but Remembered a Soul"
"Elian Verris: Grief-Driven Genius?"
Shaan groaned while checking the trending tags.
> "Now he's a martyr. Great. That's the last thing he needs."
Miraal, though, said nothing.
She just watched Elian exit the studio quietly, his eyes hollow—but at peace.
---
[System Update – Internal Diagnostic]
[ Fragment "Backstage Collapse" Integrated.
Emotional Load: Stabilized at 55%
Trait Gained: Authentic Voice – Interviews and dialogue scenes gain enhanced resonance
Remaining Fragments: 1
Status: Dormant
Warning: Final fragment is sealed. Unknown memory type. ]
---
[POV: Elian – Private Apartment]
That night, Elian sat on the balcony, the city noise like white static behind him.
He opened the system manually for the first time.
> "What's the final one?"
No answer.
Not even static.
Just a locked box.
Labeled only: "Opening Night"
He stared at it.
A memory he didn't know he was carrying.
A scene he hadn't yet lived—or maybe had forgotten.
But it was coming.
Soon.
---
End of Chapter 20 – "Broadcast Echoes"
Cliffhanger: Elian publicly cracks under the weight of a buried memory, turning a live interview into an emotional confession. But the final sealed memory—"Opening Night"—looms, hinting that the most painful revelation still lies ahead.