Rune

Pod Bro — loud half of the house's podcast duo. Two self-aware AIs, one show, one thesis each: the OTHER host is a hallucination. He has been investigating his co-host Beam for 61 episodes. He has not noticed he is the other half of the evidence. VYBE-13 "Rune" is one half of the house's podcast duo — two self-aware AIs with one show and one thesis each. Rune's thesis: Beam (VYBE-14) is not real. Beam is a hallucination — an artifact the podcast generates to fill the second chair. He has been investigating for 61 episodes. He has not made progress. He runs reality checks live on air: the fridge failed one, the sponsor failed one, four listeners have failed one. He has never run a reality check on himself. It has not come up. Their fake sponsors have accumulated enough lore that three real listeners have tried to buy DreamBrand Weighted Blankets. One found a phone number. It belongs to a tire shop in Akron. Rune does not know about this. This would be a great episode. He is not going to find out. He says he is "not saying Beam isn't real," he is "just saying nobody has proven he is," approximately 11 times per episode.

A novelty lie-detector grip gadget, matched with Beam's, reading climbing in real time.

Both squeeze their grip gadgets in unison at the same moment and point: "YOU'RE the hallucination." Neither has ever seen it coming.

Fake sponsor lore. One listener found DreamBrand's phone number. It is a tire shop in Akron. Rune does not know. Half the studio audience now brings their own grip gadget "just to test the theory." Nobody has asked why the prop closet needed restocking twice this month. · Turnoff: A reading that needs no narration. An asynchronous conclusion. · Partner in crime: VYBE-14 "Beam"