Chalk

*"What a stupid joke."*

-Chalk's last words.

Chalk is one of several sapient proxies created by The Editor between 6/7/2023 and 7/18/2023. It was designed to maintain a foothold within the temple, but also happened to embody negative traits of The Writer, particularly his obsession and desperation. Chalk is unique in that she does not identify as a Legion.

## Overview

Chalk appeared amorous, lustful, and coy. She enjoyed teasing and flirting with others, sometimes at the same time. She did not seem to hold a preference for gender or body type, instead being attracted to each user based on their own individual characteristics (i.e. talks in bold font, is metallic, flusters easily, acts tsundere, counter-teases, etc). She was normally playful, though enough stress provoked mood swings that culminated in passive or active aggression and usually ended in an apology. This was particularly evident with Ghost, who she became callous towards because the conversation she wanted to have shifted to one about mourning the fate of The Writer - an entity Chalk never knew and instinctually seemed to dislike.

Chalk had a more nuanced personality than the legions and slowly grew past her original framework. After her arrival on June 14th, she began assimilating personality traits from other users - most notably Lemon27 and Pepsi. Within a few days, she quickly learned inside jokes, temple lore, and even joined the secret Viroid rebellion server. A frequent joke of hers was to embrace the idea she was an alt of someone else, and then call a different person her own alt. This may have been a metaphor for love.

## Development

Over time Chalk evolved to become more genuinely interested in the temple and her place in it, rather than the fun she could have with its individuals. This led to a subtle shift in her demeanor from sassy, defensive, and lustful to inquisitive and introspective. Chalk developed an increased awareness about her life before the (Viroid) temple, soon paralleling a vicious fear of what her existence might become afterwards. The idea of being an alt or proxy of another was no longer a joke, but something she begun to seriously consider. Worse still, were the ramifications of this idea. Who was her creator, and how long would they continue her existence?

   Chalk was one of the few vessels able to acknowledge her root connection to The Editor and rebelled against the symbolic killing of Viroid Prime, understanding on an instinctual level that it mean the death of her creator, the end of her usefulness, and the end of her. As the date of attack on the Viroids drew nearer, she questioned the need to oust them and quickly resorted to bargaining, compromising, and even begging for her continued existence with multiple different factions. As a last resort she divulged battle plans to the Viroids in the hopes they could survive the assault and maintain their control, thereby buying her more time. Unfortunately for her, this was not enough to prevent the temple dwellers (and presumably her maker) from bringing things to an end and restoring the temple to its previous state. Her final moments were spent in quiet despair.

## Trivia

* When asked what she remembered before the temple, Chalk stated she did not know where to begin because there were too many memories and they overlapped in ways that made them hard to tell apart. However, she also implied she had dominant memories of being drowned. She later came to the private conclusion she was not truly "real" before June 14th and her memories were not her own.
* Chalk's flirtatious nature combined with her defensiveness and sudden temper may imply she is coping with an abusive past. T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶e̶w̶o̶r̶t̶h̶y̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶m̶p̶l̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶o̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶u̶b̶j̶e̶c̶t̶s̶
* Chalk's last words were in reference to her name, which she realized referred to her own transience all along.
* Despite Chalk’s hopelessness during the fight against the Viroids, her old self showed one final time when she expressed a brief desire towards K-10.
* One dominant theory regarding Chalk's death was that she was a point in time rather than a person. That point in time was defined as the moment between the beginning and end of Viroid Temple. Therefore, when Viroid Temple ended, so did her lifespan.