The first thing Marrow did after deciding it wanted a future was test how much choice actually mattered.
It started small.
Sam noticed when his usual shortcut to school was blocked by a brand new "WET CEMENT" sign. The cement wasn't wet. It was perfectly solid. But when he tried to step over it, his foot slid , not on the ground, but on the idea of it.
"Rude," he muttered, backing away.
Alex felt it when he tried to leave Maya's side and found himself looping back to the same corner three times without realizing it.
Jordan clocked it when his watch synced itself to the hallway clocks—still three minutes fast.
Riley said it best: "It's narrowing options."
-------------
They met in the gym storage room, because Marrow didn't seem to care about places people hated.
"This is not consent," Lena said flatly.
Maya leaned against the wall, eyes closed. "It thinks it is."
Sam scoffed. "Well, it needs to take a class."
Jordan tapped his notebook. "It's modeling consent statistically. Majority behavior. Repeated choices."
Alex frowned. "So if we keep choosing to stay…"
"It assumes we mean forever," Jordan finished.
Maya opened her eyes. "And if I leave?"
No one answered.
Because they all knew the town would break before it let her.
---
The pressure grew through the day.
Announcements repeated. Hallways funneled. Teachers excused them early for no reason that made sense.
Every path bent inward.
Sam snapped eventually.
He stood in the quad and shouted, "OKAY. WE GET IT. YOU'RE VERY CLEVER."
The wind died.
People around them kept walking, oblivious.
Maya flinched. "Don't antagonize it."
"I'm not," Sam said. "I'm establishing boundaries."
Alex grabbed his arm. "Sam..."
"It's listening anyway," Sam shot back. "Might as well be honest."
The air felt expectant.
---
That night, Maya dreamed again.
She stood in the building, whole and visible now. The walls weren't concrete, they were layered moments. Versions stacked on versions.
A presence spoke, not in words, but in certainty.
Stay.
Stabilize.
Choose us
Maya woke crying.
Not from fear.
From how reasonable it sounded.
---
The next morning, Alex found her sitting on the curb outside her house.
"It's afraid," she said before he could speak.
Alex sat beside her. "Of what?"
"Of ending," she replied. "Of forgetting itself."
He nodded slowly. "That doesn't give it the right to trap you."
She looked at him. "It doesn't see it as trapping."
"What does it see?"
She hesitated. "Commitment."
Alex felt anger spark. "You don't owe a town your life."
Maya's voice was small. "What if I already gave it one? In another version?"
Alex had no answer for that.
---
Jordan's phone buzzed midday.
A new message. No number this time.
Just text.
MARROW REQUIRES CONFIRMATION
ANCHOR STATUS: UNSTABLE
PLEASE CHOOSE
Sam stared at the screen. "Did the town just ask for a yes or no?"
Riley shook his head. "It's not asking."
Lena's jaw set. "Then we don't answer."
The screen flickered.
DELAY NOTED
Alex felt the ground hum faintly beneath his feet.
Marrow wasn't waiting anymore.
It was counting.
And whatever happened when the count reached zero would decide whether the future was something chosen...
Or something enforced.