[ WP ] You find a children 's cartoon that predicts the future eerily accurately . The last episode tells about the apocalypse ... in a typical cartoon fashion suited for little kids .

“ *Campfire Tales*. A show my kid has been watching for a good while now. The format ’ s simple, so that it ’ s easy to digest for both kids and the parents that have to stomach it. There are a few characters that sit by a fire in a scene at the start. Sometimes with product placement in the form of snacks. Then, one fellow in the group starts narrating a story for the kid to enjoy. 
 
 
 There are occasional snap backs to reality for a comment from the listeners or something else to bolster the story. If it ’ s a scary story I ’ ve seen them build up tension with the return to the campfire. This whole time I ’ ve glanced over at the show, heard it in the background, and had to actually focus on it with my kid its true nature has been hidden from me. ” 
 
 
 A reporter shoved a mic closer to a man in his early thirties standing at a podium beside some government officials. 
 
 
 She asked, “ What does show and its supposedly true nature have to do with this press conference? ” 
 
 
 The man answered quickly, “ We ’ ll get there soon, but it has everything to do with this press conference on the state of emergency we find ourselves in. ” 
 
 
 Several reporters, journalists, and other mediakin clamored and crowded at the front until some guards silenced them. The man continued to tell his story. 
 
 
 “ This show could predict the future. It wasn ’ t obvious, because like everyone else I had assumed it was about teaching moral lessons. It set up most episodes that way, but a few were obviously for fun. My expectations made me ignore what in hindsight should have been plain to see. I finally noticed one day by chance when I realized a similarity of the situation presented in an episode to one in reality. 
 
 
 My curiosity led me to see if the same outcome would happen and it did. I kept on testing this as a fun project that I considered comprised of coincidence until eventually I started noticing little details too that rang perfectly true in real life as more than just a stretch of chance. It ’ s funny now that I think about it. I don ’ t recall the show having a warning about nothing being related to things outside of fiction. ” 
 
 
 The headlines on news stations across the world read “ Children ’ s TV Show Predicts the Future?! ”. Several people were talking about how this could be possible and who did it. A few people figured that the government ’ s quiet presence was proof that they engineered it. Some thought it must be a clever story algorithm that happened to ring true. 
 
 
 An old pudgy government official stepped up to the podium and the man moved aside for a moment. 
 
 
 The official said, “ We will take one question now, but not just from anybody. All of you must field one together. You have a minute to figure one out, then he ’ ll return to explaining. ” 
 
 
 Those from the media froze for a moment in confusion, then slowly turned their previously carnivorous eyes to each other. They clustered closer and started talking slowly at first. Then, it sped up as people had more ideas of things to ask. A few were checking online sites to crowdsource other people ’ s questions. Time was nearly out when it seemed that they had reached a truce on what question they wanted to ask. The lady from before stepped out as their representative. 
 
 
 She said, “ Is the government involved in creating this show? ” 
 
 
 The government official simply shook his head, then stepped back to let the other man carry on. 
 
 
 “ I even profited off of this a few times, but I noticed that there were some bad scenarios. I knew reaching out and warning the relevant authorities wouldn ’ t work if I mentioned this as my source. However, I didn ’ t want to do nothing. I let the proper people know what they needed to. That ’ s when I realized that my intervention and profiteering was what preceded a change in the trend of stories. 
 
 
 They were getting darker and darker. Sometimes they had the same characters, which was new. At this point I had stopped my kid from being allowed to watch the show, even though it kept its seemingly moral promoting nature. As is my nature I decided to test a few theories and one held true about the shift in direction. If I stopped interfering with the predicted reality, then it stayed at the same tone covering subject matter that started to seem similar. ” 
 
 
 The headline about Campfire Tales was competing with new ones across different localities. Some reported accidents, freak weather, and more disasters. Some shows had now finally gotten some scientific experts to arrive at their studios for a talk, but many also talked about the other things popping up. 
 
 
 “ I couldn ’ t just sit by and let future tragedies remain, so I restarted my contact with the police. I gained trustworthy reputation despite early questions as a source, then worked my further up to the Feds. Things were still getting worse and I finally revealed the truth as you ’ ve heard it up to now with the President. This is why the top brass from all branches have been reported meeting recently. 
 
 To discuss the truth, which was quickly established by the accuracy of my prior predictions. Then, to decide what to do considering how things were worsening the more they were acted on. Nobody could handle the guilt, such that we carried on operations. Our hope that things would level off or always be manageable were just that in the end. ” 
 
 
 The pudgy official returned to the podium and let the press know that they had another question allowed. They orderly put their heads together and quicker than last time had a question. 
 
 
 The woman asked, “ Why didn ’ t the government let anyone else know until now? ” 
 
 
 Some headlines now also read “ Government Hides the Future! ”. Those against the current party in power were fast in accusing that party of wanting to also strike rich. Not just to prevent disasters as they said they were doing. Rumormongering spread on the internet that some of these widespread mini-catastrophes might be related to the press conference. 
 
 
 The official answered, “ It was a matter of national security and we were doing further research on the show. ” 
 
 
 The official returned to his former spot while the man took microphone again. 
 
 
 The official yelled out from behind the man, “ No more questions. ” 
 
 
 The man resumed again, but this time he looked on the crowd with finality. 
 
 
 “ Things were escalating. We put a stop to doing anything for a time now wishing that the show ’ s predictions simmered down. At this point the signal the show used to broadcast on was banned for public use, although we could still access it for viewing the show at its scheduled time. This is all about the most recent episode to have aired. The final one. ” 
 
 
 The man sighed as a frown spread across his face. Everyone amongst the government looked somber. Then, the man continued. 
 
 
 “ It began with several people huddled around a bonfire. They looked ragged with blankets for the ones further from the fire. The forest was thin and everything looked sick. Several characters from before were there now. An old man stepped in front of the fire and began speaking in a weary voice to all of them. We realized that this was the very first storyteller in the show, yet he had aged. 
 
 
 In this tale someone had been living life normally until they came across a demon named Laplace. Laplace spoke with a silver tongue of truths to be, which he said could be changed. At first they denied that they had ever really met the demon and called it a dream. That the things they heard weren ’ t right, but they felt a nagging sensation to check them out. Everything happened as Laplace had predicted, so the person sought out Laplace. 
 
 
 They heard more, but this time were told that a bad thing would happen. They ignored the cost and recklessly went to stop it from occurring. They succeeded, however the next time they realized they couldn ’ t do anything alone. They told others of what Laplace told them, so more things were stopped. Eventually they revealed to these new friends that Laplace was their source, so everyone agreed to imprison him in case of several things. To prevent others from hearing his words and validating that he wasn ’ t the cause. 
 
 
 The predictions got worse and they tried various things to stop Laplace ’ s futures from further declining. Eventually, they had to face the cost. Laplace told them finally that they can not destroy the future and create a new one in its place. There was conservation and all their efforts had only piled up the bad. Now, everything was going to suffer it at once. They tried to cheat a basic law of the world. The moral of the story he told was that some things done with good intentions can go awry. I ’ m sorry. I think we all are. Everyone has a week until the world fully dies its slow death. ” 
 
 Author's ~~Note~~ Ramblings: I could probs have done better, meh. The final portion is plausibly the meat of the story and could be read alone. Broke apart some of the really long talking for ease of reading. Did n't know what the proper formatting code on that was, so just minced it into paragraphs. **Thanks for reading this long tale! ** ( I should rewrite this with more meta. And stuff. Hmm. )
