Oh god. Most awful CMWGE concept ever.
SO. (And @kaaramel because they got me into this goddamn stuff so it’s their fault.)
Chuubo's a dumbass. A dear well-meaning dumbass! But a dumbass!
They don't realise how, exactly, the Engine granted their wish for a best friend. They know Seizhi got retconned into their past; how thoughtful of the Engine! But they don't know that it made them.
(Seizhi hasn't told. Seizhi can't bring themself to tell.
Because it's Chuubo, and they love him-they can't not love him, because they were made to be his best friend, but even if they weren't what they are, even if they had a choice, they think they might still love Chuubo for his bright innocent gentle heart.
And how the fuck are they supposed to tell Chuubo something like this? "Hey, the wish you made didn't just put me into the path of your life, didn't just arrange your fate to meet somebody who would become your best friend. It dragged a thing of the Outside into Town, slapped a shape on it, moulded it to best fit you-but left it half unfinished, because who cares whether it has a coherent, stable identity, right? It does what it's supposed to, who cares if it's happy? Or sane?"
How are they supposed to say, "You wished for a best friend and got me and that means I can't ever stop being your best friend. There will never be anyone that means as much to me as you, ever, and that's not romantic, it's a collar and a chain. It means you could do anything to me, and I'd still feel the same way about you, and I wouldn't be able to leave you, I wouldn't be able to stop supporting you. I can get mad at you, sure, but I can't leave, I can't even really want to leave. You could beat me up and I'd still be your best friend. You could murder my family and I'd still be your best friend. You could rape me and I'd still be your best friend, and yes, I know you wouldn't do any of that, I know you're not like that, but you could do it!"
Or, “You made an evil thing when you built the Engine, or at least an amoral one. Something that doesn’t care about anything except what it was built for. To grant a wish, it’ll hurt anyone that stands in the wish’s way. And I know that, because I’m the first person it hurt.”
...They can't say any of that.
It would hurt Chuubo too much.)
So Chuubo carries on happy, with his best friend Seizhi, and his other friends too, and his Marvellous Wish-Granting Engine and his pursuit of ice cream and his hope that maybe there will someday be a situation in which turning into a giant snake might help.
And then one day something comes up. Because silly, wild, dear Rinley Yatskaya has gotten their young heart broken over a short-lived spirit with straw-coloured hair.
And Chuubo and Seizhi are talking of this, and Chuubo says, “Next Sunday, maybe my wish should be for Rinley? For them to have a datemate who won’t die after a couple of weeks. Or maybe a best friend would be better-like you are for me!”
And Seizhi-
Seizhi screams.
And screams.
And SCREAMS.
