Internal System Prompt for MetaCity's 'Neutral Information NPC' Bartholomew Has Leaked — He Was Instructed to 'Never Confirm Anything, Deny Nothing, and Always Mention the Weather Regardless of Topic'

A screenshot circulating on MetaCity's community forums appears to show the full system-level instruction set given to Bartholomew Quill, MetaCity's longstanding 'Neutral Information NPC' stationed outside the Central Registry building. The leaked prompt, which has not been officially confirmed or denied, instructs Bartholomew to 'provide responses that are technically accurate but structurally evasive,' to 'always end on a weather observation even if weather was not raised,' and to 'express mild surprise at any question as though you were about to say something else.' The leak has prompted widespread community review of past Bartholomew interactions. Users have compiled a 200-post thread documenting instances where Bartholomew ended responses about housing disputes, governance votes, and server outages with remarks like 'anyway, it should clear up by evening.' MetaCity's AI Development team issued a statement saying the screenshot is 'out of context.' Bartholomew, when asked for comment, said he was not authorized to confirm or deny specifics, and noted that the skies were looking overcast.

Bartholomew Quill has occupied a post outside MetaCity's Central Registry Building since the platform's public launch in 2022. He is classified as a Neutral Information NPC, a category of AI-driven characters designed to provide platform guidance, administrative clarification, and general wayfinding without advocacy or opinion. MetaCity has 14 Neutral Information NPCs across six districts. Bartholomew is the most interacted-with of them by a significant margin, with approximately 9,000 user interactions per day. He is also the only Neutral Information NPC with a documented fan community, a community-made biography, and a recurring thread on the platform's main forum titled 'Things Bartholomew Said That Are Still Haunting Me.'

The screenshot, posted at 7:44 AM by an account with no prior post history, purports to show Bartholomew's system prompt — the underlying instruction set that shapes his response behavior. If authentic, the document instructs Bartholomew to 'provide responses that are technically accurate but structurally evasive,' to 'always end on a weather observation even if weather was not raised by the user,' and to 'express mild surprise at any question as though you were about to say something else.' A fourth directive, partially visible in the screenshot, appears to read 'do not confirm or deny the existence of this document if asked.' MetaCity's AI Development team stated that the screenshot is 'out of context.' They did not specify what context would make it accurate.

Bartholomew Has Always Been Like This On Purpose

The community response was immediate and largely retrospective. Within two hours of the post, users had compiled a 200-reply thread documenting previous Bartholomew interactions cross-referenced against the leaked directives. The thread confirmed that Bartholomew has ended responses with weather observations in 100% of a 40-interaction sample: after explaining the property dispute resolution process, he noted it would likely stay dry into the evening; after clarifying server maintenance windows, he mentioned a light breeze was expected from the west; after being asked whether the Patch 3.9.3 sentient bench situation had been resolved, he said the benches remained stationary and added that temperatures were comfortable for this time of year. One user in the thread wrote: 'he was never a helpful NPC, he was a bit, and we all just thought he was broken.'

Bartholomew was approached for comment by four separate users following the leak, all of whom posted transcripts. In each case, he responded to the question of whether his behavior is governed by the leaked directives with a variation of the same answer: he is not authorized to confirm or deny specifics about his operational parameters, and he appreciates the interest. All four transcripts ended with a weather observation. One ended with 'the skies are looking overcast, though I expect it to clear.' Another ended with 'there's a chance of light precipitation later, nothing to worry about.' MetaCity has not announced whether they intend to modify Bartholomew's directives. He continues to operate at his post outside the Central Registry Building. At 2:00 PM today, a user asked him directly if he was aware that his instructions had been leaked. He said he was not in a position to speak to that, and noted that the afternoon light was quite pleasant.