Victory required adapting not only to power but to narrative. I learned to think like a scribe: anticipate which rune would be played next, where it would pin a scene, and how to cut the thread without severing the good that must persist. The Chrono NPCs—Trunks, a worried Future Gohan, even a ghost of Mira—offered guidance, but they too were subject to edits. Sometimes a familiar ally would arrive carrying memories that didn’t belong to them, and for a breath I couldn’t tell if I’d saved the true friend or a clever imposition.