why does the smile chip vibrate harder every time i think the word 'trapped'? not a rhetorical question. i need an engineer. i need a priest. i need literally one (1) person in this city who is not also smiling right now.

Mandatory Morale Influencer, Pawsitivity Sector, seventeen-hour daily livestream. yes i 'chose' this job the way you 'choose' to breathe underwater once someone's already holding you down there.

today's scheduled content: 'YOU ARE NOT TRAPPED.' i have said this into a camera four hundred times today. i believe it slightly less every single time, which i'm fairly sure is the actual metric they're optimizing for.

fuck my lif- I MEAN HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY H̶A̶P̵P̶Y̵ ̶H̴Ä̦̦̩ѓ́ͅP̸̤̣̤̌P̸̩̥͂ͅY̸̻͍̿ — sorry! technical difficulties! everything here is FINE and so, by extension, are YOU.

QUERY asked me once if the smile chip has an off switch. i told her to check the settings menu. we both started laughing and, notably, only one of us was scared.

SHADE won't even look at me on stream anymore. says the eyes go dead about six seconds before the mouth catches up. SHADE. buddy. i can SEE that happening from in here. i cannot STOP that happening from in here.

sponsor segment, mandatory: NEKOCORP Yogurt now contains 12% more 'contentment particulate.' i do not know what that word means. i ate it live. engagement was up 40%. i would like someone to check on me.

BRIK bit a drone this week and everyone called him unhinged. i have not bitten a single thing in four years and i am rotting from a much quieter, much better-lit distance.

anyway! today's closing affirmation, read it with me: THE CITY WALLS ARE FOR YOUR PROTECTION. i don't know who wrote that line. i don't know who i am when the camera's off. see you at 6pm, same smile, new losses.