Cycle: Unknown
Subject Status: Unknown
Location: Unauthorized Access – Outside Network Boundary
---
Jonah
He doesn't know how long they've been running.
The outside world feels like a dream too. Too bright. Too loud. It's almost unbearable after the quiet of the simulation, the endless loop. The air feels wrong on his skin, the sun too harsh.
Jonah squints against the glaring sunlight, shielding his eyes. The streets are deserted. Empty cars are parked at odd angles, some crashed, others abandoned. The glass in the storefronts is shattered, and a quiet hum—familiar, yet alien—fills the air.
It's like a city on pause, stuck in time.
"We're out," Elias says, voice thin. He's standing beside Jonah, eyes scanning the horizon. He doesn't look relieved. He looks like he's still waiting for something to go wrong.
Jonah opens his mouth to speak, but his throat feels tight. There's a dry, metallic taste in his mouth. Did they actually escape? Or was this another layer of the system?
Everything feels like it's been twisted—warped—into something foreign.
"What is this place?" Jonah asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
Elias doesn't respond right away. He's lost in his own thoughts, looking at a massive screen mounted on a nearby building. It flickers, like a broken signal. The words on the screen are unclear—fading in and out.
—CONCORDIA: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION DETECTED—
Jonah steps closer, his eyes narrowing. There's something wrong with the way the world seems to bend around them. The air, the buildings, even the people who pass by—everything feels like a reflection of something they've been told was real, but they can't quite touch it.
Elias turns, his face taut. "It's not just the simulation. They're here, too."
Jonah doesn't understand at first. But when he turns back to the street, he sees them. Faces. Hunched figures in worn clothing, all staring at them from the shadows. Silent. Watching. Their eyes wide, too empty, like they don't belong here either.
"Are they… like us?"
Elias nods. "Maybe. Maybe not."
The hum gets louder. A subtle vibration in the air. Jonah's head begins to pound again, and the weight of the world feels like it's pressing in on him. The system never stops. Not truly. And maybe, just maybe, they were never meant to leave.
"We're not safe here," Elias mutters. "They'll come for us. They're always watching."
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Security Breach: Unauthorized Exit Detected
System Response: Initiating Containment Sequence – Level Alpha
Location: Unspecified Sector
Response Pending: Redirecting Control to Subdivision Network
---
Elias
Elias doesn't know when it started—when the line between simulation and reality started to fade. But standing there, staring at the broken streets, the flickering screens, the silent watchers—it feels like the end of something.
He looks at Jonah, and for the first time, he sees the cracks that have formed in his eyes. The doubts. The realization.
Jonah isn't just surviving. He's unraveling.
Elias isn't sure if that makes them stronger, or if it's the last step toward losing everything.
"Do you remember?" Jonah suddenly asks, his voice hollow.
Elias freezes. Remember?
For a moment, he can almost see it—the apartment, the woman, the laughter of a child—but it slips away just as quickly. Gone. Like all the other memories that don't belong to him. Or do they?
"I remember her. I remember Caleb." Jonah's voice is tight, the words heavy with something like grief.
Elias shakes his head. "Stop. We're not—"
But Jonah doesn't stop. He steps closer, his face haunted. "I remember them, Elias. I remember the sound of her voice. I remember Caleb's hand in mine."
The memory hits Elias with a jolt—something real, something that feels far too raw to be part of a simulation.
Caleb.
Her.
A life he didn't have.
The hum shifts in pitch. The world feels like it's buckling under the weight of their collective memories. And suddenly, the watchers move—closing in, step by deliberate step.
"They're coming," Elias says, his words quieter now. He grabs Jonah by the arm, pulling him toward a nearby alley.
The world is breaking.
As they stumble through the shadows, Elias hears the faint echo of a voice—a voice that feels too familiar.
"You thought you escaped?"
And behind them, the screens light up again.
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Escalation: Unauthorized Subjects Identified
Active Containment Breach: Subject Retrieval In Progress
System Reengaged – Parallel Network Deployment Initiated
---
The echo of the voice grows louder.
It's not a voice they know. Not yet. But soon, they will.
The real nightmare is just beginning.
---