The ExHale Lore
A two-inch mushroom, his evil twin, and you.
Chapter I
Mushrooms belong on the ground. Big Vape sold them the sky.
Sixty years ago
Big Vape floated the forests up for one night, then never brought them down.
The offer: "One night in the sky. Free. Just the one." Up went the forests on giant vape thrusters. In the morning the thrusters didn't switch off, and sixty years later Big Vape's billboards still ask: "Why come down?"
A few years ago
Reddington and his twin grew up fighting Big Vape side by side.
They popped up on Summer Forest four minutes apart, and the older one still brings it up. Master Enoki trained them both in the Dojo. He charged in biscuits.
Not long ago
His brother took Big Vape's "just the one" and slowly went bad.
It was never just the one. He went bad the way mushrooms do: slowly, then all at once, then with a smell. Big Vape's marketing team changed two letters in his name and called it a rebrand.
Recently
Then Big Vape built InHale for humans and locked the Quit button.
Dreadington hosts it, whispering like your best friend. The download sits at 99% forever, and Quit "unlocks at level infinity". Open it and the smoke rolls in.
Chapter II
He went looking for his brother and found you.
One day
Scared of heights, Reddington jumped anyway, with his cap as a parachute.
He only meant to drag his brother home. He shut his eyes, screamed for eleven minutes and followed InHale's smoke all the way down. He calls the screaming a war cry.
Minutes later
You were lost in InHale's smoke until Reddington broke in.
Dreadington was in your ear, playing best friend, and InHale had welded the exit shut "for your comfort". Reddington knocked. You rattled the cage where InHale keeps your urge to quit, and he burst through: "That's not you. That's the vape talking."
Right after
He helps you quit, and you help him beat Big Vape.
He brought you to his side: ExHale. You make the calls, he does the stomping, and maybe one day you both get his brother back. Morel from the shop sent a welcome basket. Don't eat the charms.
Chapter III
Who's on your side, and who wants you to stay.
In your phone
The hero. All two inches of him.
Cheeky, brave, a bit dramatic and always on your side. He grew up on Summer Forest, so he's never touched the ground, but he has opinions: "Is ground crunchy? I think it's crunchy."
In someone's ear
Hey. It's me. Your best friend.
The evil twin. Runs the Craving Guards.
Four minutes older, and he'll tell you. He hosts InHale and sends a Craving Guard after anyone who tries to quit. He talks like your clingiest best friend, which is how you know it's the vape talking.
Behind the counter
Family shop. Never sold a vape.
His mum and dad opened the shop on the ground, and it went up with the forest. He's sold gear to anyone fighting back for fifty years, no tricks. Big Vape tries to buy him out twice a year. He sends the letters back unopened.
In the Dojo
Trained both twins. Paid in biscuits.
Very tall, very thin, and the sensei of the Dojo. His sayings are 40% wisdom and 60% snack requests. He trains the Underground, the mushroom rebels, whose motto is "Feet on the ground. Eventually."
Top floor
Floated the forests. Wants you to stay.
Its motto hangs over every door: "Keep them up. Keep them coming back." It fears people who count, people who wait out a craving, and people with a buddy. The board: Chairman Max Drag, Nigel Nozzle (Dreadington's assistant), Penny Pod (Marketing), Bruce Juice (Flavours), Hank Tank (Thrusters) and Phil Refill (Refills).
“Up is a lifestyle.”
Tap a board member
Chapter IV
Your clock now. Every puff-free day makes you both stronger.
Lungs clear. Altitude drops.
Week 1
Count for a week, then cut down stop by stop to zero.
Scouts just count, no judging. Every stop trims your daily limit, and camping at a stop is fine. The road ends at Castle Zero: zero a day, and Big Vape can't get in.
Days 1 to 3
Dreadington sends Craving Guards, but they're just smoke and never last.
A craving is just a guard knocking. Cravings peak and pass within minutes, so outlast one and it falls apart. By day three the nicotine is mostly out of you, and what's left is habit.
Now and then
A slip is a stumble, and Reddington gets straight back up.
He gets knocked down, a few Bux fall out of his pockets, and you can win them back. Puffs never power a thruster, and a slip never lifts an island. The levels you've earned stay yours.
Week 2
It feels like nothing's happening, but it is.
Dreadington knows it, so he sends a "We miss you!" card. Big Vape's marketing calls cravings "moments" now, because nobody rides out a moment. It's a craving. Ride it out.
Level by level
As you both get stronger, thrusters sputter out and islands drift home.
Each thruster coughs, sputters and quits (for once, a good word). Every island that lands is one Big Vape can't sell to. Hank Tank, Head of Thrusters, calls it "scheduled maintenance".
The showdown
Dreadington: "Quit? Sure. Tomorrow."Reddington: "Mate. It IS tomorrow."
Top floor of Big Vape HQ, on the highest island. Dreadington throws every guard he's got, then runs out of lines. The last thruster sputters out, and Chairman Max Drag calls it "a planned descent". Reddington leaves the door open: "You know where the shop is."
Hold on to something.
Finale
He found you. Now bring it down, one day at a time.
After
Somewhere in InHale, the Quit button just unlocked. Nobody saw who.
