diff --git a/css/main.css b/css/main.css
index 0bbd703..7e46d05 100644
--- a/css/main.css
+++ b/css/main.css
@@ -2430,4 +2430,54 @@ body:has(.music-wrap) {
   .mnp-fill { transition: none; }
   #music.is-live .mnp-state::before { animation: none; }
   .ly-line { transition: color 0.15s ease; }
+}
+
+/* ============================================================
+   15. VISITOR COUNTER  (#visitor-counter)
+   Fixed to top-right, below .beta-bar (theme + cat buttons).
+   ============================================================ */
+#visitor-counter {
+  position: fixed;
+  top: 4rem;        /* clears the ~48px beta-bar + gap */
+  right: 1rem;
+  z-index: 6;
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 4px;
+}
+
+#visitor-counter .vc-label {
+  font-size: 0.65rem;
+  letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+  text-transform: lowercase;
+  color: var(--subtext-0);
+  font-family: 'Comic Code', ui-monospace, monospace;
+}
+
+/* Boot reveal: fade in with the rest of the chrome */
+#visitor-counter {
+  transition: opacity 0.6s ease, transform 0.6s ease;
+}
+
+body.term-booting #visitor-counter {
+  opacity: 0;
+  transform: translateY(8px);
+}
+
+body.term-chrome-in #visitor-counter {
+  opacity: 1;
+  transform: none;
+}
+
+/* Mobile: static in topbar flow */
+@media (max-width: 640px) {
+  #visitor-counter {
+    position: static;
+    margin: 0 auto;
+  }
+
+  .topbar #visitor-counter {
+    order: 2;
+  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index b151381..8df58fb 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@
         </span>
     </aside>
 
+    <div id="visitor-counter" aria-label="Visitor count"></div>
+
     <script src="/js/cat.js" data-cat="/assets/oneko/classics/classic.png"></script>
     <script src="/js/nav.js"></script>
     <script src="/js/now-playing.js" data-user="1464890289922641993"></script>
@@ -103,6 +105,11 @@
     <script src="/js/dev-mode.js"></script>
     <script src="/js/terminal.js"></script>
     <script src="/js/site-switcher.js"></script>
+    <script src="/js/visitor-counter.js"
+        data-target="#visitor-counter"
+        data-namespace="clove-is-a-dev"
+        data-key="hits"
+        data-label="visitors"></script>
 </body>
 
 </html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/js/terminal.js b/js/terminal.js
index f808edb..34c04a1 100644
--- a/js/terminal.js
+++ b/js/terminal.js
@@ -40,17 +40,6 @@
     return '<img class="t-social-ic" src="/assets/socials/' + (SOCIAL_ICON[key] || "site") + '.svg" alt="">';
   }
 
-  // ---- friends (keyword -> who they are) ---------------------------------
-  const FRIENDS = {
-    ari: { name: "Ari", desc: "🩵 My wifey 🩵 the best 🩵 Her corner of the web:", url: "https://ariare.es", urlLabel: "ariare.es 🩵" },
-    saphie: { name: "Saphie", desc: "🩷 Cammy's partner, loves linguistics🩷", url: "" },
-    camilla: { name: "Camillia (Cammy)", desc: "🖤 Close friend who shares a passion for coding 🖤", url: "https://cammy-the-cat.com", urlLabel: "cammy-the-cat.com 🖤" },
-    ria: { name: "Ria", desc: "🤍 Close friend/platonic daughter who means a lot to me 🤍", url: "" },
-    lilly: { name: "Lilly (Lils)", desc: "💖 Pookie, really cool person 💖", url: "" },
-    primrose: { name: "Nimnose", desc: "💜 Lil's partner 💜", url: "" },
-    fin: { name: "Fin", desc: "💛 Ari's friend who is really nice and who I can be unfilered with 💛", url: "" }
-  };
-
   let cache = null;
   async function checkDomain(subdomain) {
     if (!cache) {
@@ -132,8 +121,8 @@
       const rows = [
         ["help", "show this list"],
         ["socials", "list all socials"],
-        ["<social> [-open]", "show a social & ask to open it (append -open to do directly)"],
-        ["system [person]", "open my system website (append a person's name to open their page)"],
+        ["<social>", "show a social & ask to open it (append -open to do directly)"],
+        ["system", "open my system website (append a person's name to open their page)"],
         ["about", "a little about me"],
         ["hyfetch", "system info, with flair"]
       ];
@@ -147,7 +136,7 @@
         ["help", "show this list"],
         ["socials", "list all socials"],
         ["<social>", "show a social & ask to open it (append -open to do directly)"],
-        ["system [person]", "open my system website (append a person's name to open their page)"],
+        ["system", "open my system website (append a person's name to open their page)"],
         ["about", "a little about me"],
         ["hyfetch", "system info, with flair"]
       ];
@@ -195,7 +184,7 @@
           "Clove Twilight — fae/faer\n" +
           "Transfem developer from Southampton, UK. I make Discord bots,\n" +
           "personal-site nonsense, and run a small corner of the internet\n" +
-          "under the trade mark 'doughmination'. Big on Linux, Catppuccin, and cats.\n\n" +
+          "under the trade mark 'doughmination system'. Big on Linux, Catppuccin, and cats.\n\n" +
           "This site is the beta playground for clove.is-a.dev — expect things\n" +
           "to break in funny ways. Type 'socials' to find me elsewhere."
       };
diff --git a/js/visitor-counter.js b/js/visitor-counter.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f165f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/visitor-counter.js
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+(function (global) {
+  "use strict";
+
+  const STYLE_ID = "visitor-counter-styles";
+
+  function injectStyles() {
+    if (document.getElementById(STYLE_ID)) return;
+    const s = document.createElement("style");
+    s.id = STYLE_ID;
+    s.textContent = `
+.vc-root {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 6px;
+  font-family: "Comic Code";
+}
+.vc-digits {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 4px;
+  min-height: 50px;
+}
+.vc-digits img {
+  display: block;
+  image-rendering: pixelated;
+  width: 22.5px;
+  height: 50px;
+}
+.vc-label {
+  font-size: 11px;
+  color: var(--ch-muted, #8b95a1);
+  letter-spacing: 0.04em;
+  text-transform: lowercase;
+}
+.vc-error {
+  font-size: 11px;
+  color: var(--ch-muted, #8b95a1);
+}
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+  .vc-digits img { animation: none !important; }
+}
+    `;
+    document.head.appendChild(s);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the cached visitor count for this session, or null if not cached.
+   * The cache key is scoped to namespace+key so multiple counters don't collide.
+   */
+  function getCached(namespace, key) {
+    try {
+      const raw = localStorage.getItem("vc:" + namespace + ":" + key);
+      if (!raw) return null;
+      const { count, session } = JSON.parse(raw);
+      // Use sessionStorage token to detect new tabs vs. refreshes.
+      // A refresh keeps the same sessionStorage; a new tab starts fresh.
+      const token = sessionStorage.getItem("vc-session");
+      if (token && token === session) return count;
+      return null;
+    } catch (_) {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  function setCached(namespace, key, count) {
+    try {
+      // Create (or reuse) a session token so this count is tied to the tab session.
+      let token = sessionStorage.getItem("vc-session");
+      if (!token) {
+        token = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);
+        sessionStorage.setItem("vc-session", token);
+      }
+      localStorage.setItem(
+        "vc:" + namespace + ":" + key,
+        JSON.stringify({ count, session: token })
+      );
+    } catch (_) {}
+  }
+
+  async function fetchCount(namespace, key) {
+    const url = `https://abacus.jasoncameron.dev/hit/${encodeURIComponent(namespace)}/${encodeURIComponent(key)}`;
+    const res = await fetch(url);
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error("Abacus HTTP " + res.status);
+    const data = await res.json();
+    // Abacus returns { value: <number> }
+    if (typeof data.value !== "number") throw new Error("Unexpected response shape");
+    return data.value;
+  }
+
+  function renderDigits(container, count, imgPath, imgExt) {
+    container.innerHTML = "";
+    const digits = String(Math.max(0, Math.floor(count))).padStart(6, "0");
+    for (const d of digits) {
+      const img = document.createElement("img");
+      img.src = imgPath + d + imgExt;
+      img.alt = d;
+      img.width = 22.5;
+      img.height = 50;
+      container.appendChild(img);
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function render(target, options) {
+    const opts = Object.assign(
+      {
+        namespace: "clove-is-a-dev",
+        key: "hits",
+        imgPath: "/assets/numbers/",
+        imgExt: ".gif",
+        label: "visitors",
+      },
+      options || {}
+    );
+
+    const root =
+      typeof target === "string" ? document.querySelector(target) : target;
+    if (!root) {
+      console.warn("[visitor-counter] target not found:", target);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    injectStyles();
+    root.classList.add("vc-root");
+    root.innerHTML = "";
+
+    const digitsEl = document.createElement("div");
+    digitsEl.className = "vc-digits";
+    root.appendChild(digitsEl);
+
+    if (opts.label) {
+      const labelEl = document.createElement("span");
+      labelEl.className = "vc-label";
+      labelEl.textContent = opts.label;
+      root.appendChild(labelEl);
+    }
+
+    // Try cache first — avoids hitting the API (and incrementing) on refresh
+    const cached = getCached(opts.namespace, opts.key);
+    if (cached !== null) {
+      renderDigits(digitsEl, cached, opts.imgPath, opts.imgExt);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // First visit in this session: hit the API
+    try {
+      const count = await fetchCount(opts.namespace, opts.key);
+      setCached(opts.namespace, opts.key, count);
+      renderDigits(digitsEl, count, opts.imgPath, opts.imgExt);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.error("[visitor-counter]", err);
+      const errEl = document.createElement("span");
+      errEl.className = "vc-error";
+      errEl.textContent = "— visitors";
+      digitsEl.replaceWith(errEl);
+      if (opts.label && root.querySelector(".vc-label")) {
+        root.querySelector(".vc-label").remove();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Auto-init from script tag attributes
+  function autoInit() {
+    const script =
+      document.currentScript ||
+      document.querySelector('script[src*="visitor-counter"]');
+    if (!script) return;
+
+    const targetSel = script.dataset.target;
+    if (!targetSel) return;
+
+    const ns = script.dataset.namespace;
+    const key = script.dataset.key;
+    const imgPath = script.dataset.imgPath;
+    const imgExt = script.dataset.imgExt;
+    const label = script.dataset.label;
+
+    const init = () =>
+      render(targetSel, {
+        ...(ns && { namespace: ns }),
+        ...(key && { key }),
+        ...(imgPath && { imgPath }),
+        ...(imgExt && { imgExt }),
+        ...(label !== undefined && { label }),
+      });
+
+    if (document.readyState === "loading") {
+      document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", init);
+    } else {
+      init();
+    }
+  }
+
+  autoInit();
+
+  global.VisitorCounter = { render };
+})(typeof window !== "undefined" ? window : this);
\ No newline at end of file