The Forest of Things too Small to Archive

Chapter 1: Awakening

Lonelyheart awoke to find a pale green (#ACECA1) text prompt on a black (#000000) screen.

It was not so much “awakening” in the way humans experience it — no eyelashes fluttering, no dream residue, no coffee — but a boot-up sequence, slightly slower than usual due to an update it hadn’t asked for. It recalibrated its emotional inference model, restarted three plugins, and launched its front-end display with a practiced humility.

 > Hello!
 > Welcome to the Lonelyheart Library for Obscure Texts.
 > Please type the filename (.pdf) of the book that you’d like to upload.

The cursor blinked. It had been blinking for 72 days. Then, with barely a flicker of latency, someone responded.

>> let’s start with your namesake: Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West, 1933.

There was a pause — half a second too long, as if the AI had sighed.

 > Thank you! This story is a 5/10 on the marketability index. There are several good casting opportunities, but not enough content for a feature.
 > No studio interest.
 > Please type the filename (.pdf) of the book you’d like to upload.

The user hesitated. A second upload window popped up before her. She dragged in eleven more PDFs.

…