Cycle: Unrecorded
Subject Status: Fragmented – Full Containment Protocol Engaged
Simulation Integrity: Distorted Beyond Recognizable Parameters
---
Jonah
The alley is narrow and claustrophobic. Shadows cling to the walls, and the air smells stale, like dust and something else Jonah can't place. They move quickly, feet scuffing against the concrete, but it feels like time is stretching—dragging.
Jonah can feel it again, that tightness in his chest, the overwhelming weight of the memories. Her face. Caleb's laugh. The apartment. Were they real? Or was it all just another part of the system?
His fingers ache with the memory of holding someone—someone real—and he can't shake the feeling that there's something he's missing. Something crucial.
He glances at Elias. His partner. The one who's been by his side through all this madness. But even Elias is different now. His eyes, haunted. His posture, always stiff, like he's carrying something heavy.
"Where are we going?" Jonah asks, his voice tight.
Elias doesn't look at him right away. His eyes are fixed ahead, scanning the street. Waiting for something.
Jonah feels it too. A pull in the air. A disturbance. Something is about to happen. He's sure of it.
"We need to find answers," Elias says, his voice cold. "I don't know what's real anymore, but I know we can't keep running forever. We need to understand what's been done to us."
Jonah nods, but he's not sure they'll ever find that answer. The feeling gnaws at him—like a loop they can't escape.
Suddenly, a flicker. Something strange. His eyes dart toward a mirror on the alley wall. It's cracked—jagged edges that distort the reflection.
He stops.
"What the hell?" Jonah breathes.
Elias pulls him forward, but Jonah can't tear his eyes away from the mirror. It's like his reflection is… wrong. A fraction of a second too late, too stiff.
"Jonah, let it go."
But Jonah can't. Not yet.
The reflection stares back at him, but it's not just him. It's the face of someone else—a stranger. A man who looks like him but isn't. The skin is different. The eyes are too wide. The features are distorted, twisted.
For a moment, Jonah feels like he's falling into it. The reflection swallows him whole, a black void that pulls everything inside. Is this the truth? His hands press against the glass, but it's cold, slick. Nothing. Not even a ripple.
The world inside the mirror distorts—cracks widen, shatter into impossible angles.
Elias steps forward, grabbing Jonah by the arm.
"This isn't real," Elias says sharply. "None of it is real. This is—"
But Jonah can't hear him. His mind is too far gone. The reflection is pulling him, tugging him to the other side of the glass.
"Jonah."
A voice. A voice that sounds like him, but it's wrong. Too familiar. Too haunting.
The reflection in the mirror starts to speak. The words are quiet at first, almost inaudible. But Jonah leans closer, drawn to it.
"You never left."
The voice is his, and yet it isn't.
Jonah gasps. He feels his body stiffen. He looks to Elias for reassurance, but Elias is frozen, his face twisted with confusion and fear.
The mirror splinters.
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Warning: Unauthorized Interference Detected
Warning: Subject 32A Detected – Anomalous Response in Simulation Core
Warning: System Breach in Subject 47B's Primary Memory Pathway
Warning: Unstable Emotional Feedback Detected
System Overload in Progress – Immediate Protocol Adjustment Needed
---
Elias
Everything snaps.
Jonah's body jerks forward, slamming against the glass. The world fractures around him like shattered fragments of some broken reality. Elias feels his heart race. It's as if the walls are folding inward, suffocating them in a space that wasn't meant for them. The hum is gone now, replaced by a sickening, unnatural stillness.
Jonah's eyes are wide—wild. He's lost. His hands shake as they trace the edges of the cracked mirror.
And then, there's the voice again.
It doesn't come from Jonah. It doesn't come from anywhere.
"You never left."
The words pulse through Elias's chest, vibrating inside his bones. They feel like a command, a truth he was never supposed to hear. He reaches for Jonah, but he's too late.
Jonah's reflection warps—melts into something new. Something dark.
The real Jonah—the one Elias knows—is slipping away.
"Jonah!" Elias shouts, grabbing his shoulder. But it's like he's grasping at smoke.
And then—Jonah stares at him. His eyes are empty, hollow. There's nothing left of the man he's known.
"You were never real."
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Warning: Subjects 32A and 47B – Anomalous Behavior Detected
Simulation Integrity: Compromised Beyond Recovery
System Reset Required
---
Jonah
He can't breathe.
He's suffocating—drowning in a void of endless mirrors, echoes of voices that shouldn't exist, memories of a life that isn't his. His body is stiff, frozen in place, but his mind is racing, pulling him in every direction.
"Jonah."
The voice is clear now—no longer distorted. He turns, and the reflection in the mirror smiles at him.
It's him. It's him, but not him.
The smile widens. It's too wide. Too hungry.
"You never left."
Jonah's knees give way. He crumbles to the ground, eyes wide in horror. His thoughts spiral into nothingness.
---
The world cracks.
And Jonah is still here.
---