"Hi, Chat! I'm back!"
I greeted in a voice as cheerful as I could manage.
"So cringe"
"Lol"
"It seems her period is over"
These were the words that often killed my enthusiasm, and of course, it still wasn't pleasant today. But the viewer count at twenty-one strengthened my resolve.
"Haha, you guys are so mean!"
I tried to brush it off.
"Bring out the ghost lady"
As soon as those words were typed, the chat scrolled fast with the pointing up emojis, 'this', and '100%.'
"No, Chat. Today I was actually gonna show you this game I used to play. It's a bit obscure so I bet none of you have ever seen it! It's a really cool game."
I tried my best to steer the attention toward what I had prepared for today's stream.
"No games, Bree"
"Your games suck"
:Just let me do it, Bree:
Now Senne was also pushing me.
I shouldn't have, but I hesitated. The chat picked up on it and started to pressure me hard too. Then I saw new viewers join the stream. At first, it was one by one. But soon they came in droves. Before I knew it, the stream had thirty-seven viewers all going, 'wen ghost?', 'is this the ghost stream?', 'just show us already.'
:Bree, let me:
When the viewer count hit forty and the chat started chanting 'Ghost! Ghost!', I finally gave in.
"Fine, Chat. Here she comes."
Without any further word from me, Senne made—what she probably thought—a grand entrance to show herself. She stood there, with her hands on her hips, posing theatrically, but something was off.
"You guys don't see her?" I asked the chat.
"Bree's tripping again."
"Boo. Cheap tricks."
"Idiopath."
"Not funny. Fail."
"I'm outta here."
The viewer count dropped below forty. I now had thirty five viewers now. It was a number I would have been ecstatic to hit just a week ago, but now it felt like a blaring warning alarm, a countdown to doom as the number of viewers continued to fall.
"Do something!" I ordered Senne, with only desperation—no expectations.
"Senne, what's going on?" I muted the mic for a moment and asked her.
"I don't know. I'm right here, just like last time. Why don't they see me?"
Senne was as puzzled as I was .
"I wonder if they can hear you at least."
"Should I sing?"
"Oh god, no."
"Okay, I will sing."
"I just told you—"
Senne grabbed the microphone before I could stop her, and started to mumble in what I—or any sane person in the world—could only assume as some demonic language.
Then I saw the chat scroll fast, and viewers joining non-stop.
"You guys see that?" one viewer asked.
"She looks creepy as hell, but the voice is good."
"AI slop."
"Pretty good graphics ngl."
The opinions were mixed, but Senne seemed to be exactly the one everybody wanted. I felt a pull on my heartstrings, pulled by the force named jealousy.
When it all seemed to be going well, a message from rika_rika changed everything.
"Bruh, I can't record her"
"Wym?"
"I can't either."
"???"
"Try to screen cap," someone said.
"Wow."
"How's she doing this?"
"Screen cap block?"
"Try to record the screen with your phone…" rika_rika typed again.
The entire chat went quiet for a good few seconds, while Senne continued to mumble.
Then the chat exploded.
"What the fuck?!"
"Holy shit."
"What sorcery is this?"
"Can someone explain?"
Something was very off. The chat was reacting weirdly. But I had no idea what was going on. I used my phone to tune into my own stream, and just as everyone said, there was Senne—looking ridiculous—'singing' in demonic language. I took a screencap, and I yelped in disbelief too.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"Bree going schizo"
"This is bad ass"
"How's she doing this?"
"??????!!!!!"
"Stop it, stop it now!" I yelled, ordering Senne, but she was too into whatever stupid thing she was singing. I pulled on the mic cable to disconnect it, but Senne continued to sing next to me.
"She's gone now."
"Where?"
"Stream's over?"
"I am disapoint."
Without the microphone, I typed my farewell to the chat.
"Sorry, Chat. But I have to go right now! I will be back tomorrow."
Everyone was telling me to come back, but I didn't care this time. I turned off the stream and confronted Senne, showing her the screenshot I took of her singing on my stream.
"Look at this," I told her.
Senne leaned forward a little to bring her face really close to the phone.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"Nowhere."
"I don't see myself."
"I don't either."
Senne's shoulders dropped as she crouched down onto the carpeted floor.
"So it was all for nothing?"
"No, Senne. It was good. Better than good. This is going to become legendary."
"What do you mean?" she asked, still in a sulky tone.
"You've just won the Internet today — the lady who can't be captured on camera."