The city had gone quiet.
Ian stood on the rooftop of a crumbling building, his breath forming pale clouds in the cold night air. Below, the neon lights flickered like dying stars. The world—this version of it—felt… unstable.
["Attempt 3 initiated."]
["Memory Fragments Acquired: 5/99."]
He clenched his jaw.
Three attempts. Three lives.
And still no clear answers.
A rusted fire escape groaned beneath his feet as he climbed down. He had to reach the Archive again—if it even existed in this version of reality.
He stepped onto the street, keeping his head low. Flyers floated in the air, half-torn and blinking with holographic ads. Faces on the screens watched him. Some even smiled.
He didn't trust them.
He passed a wall covered in graffiti—spirals, always spirals.
Find the spiral. That's what Marcus said in the previous world.
The memory stung. Had that Marcus been real? Or just another construct of the system?
His phone buzzed.
["Time to fracture: 48 hours."]
["System integrity: 67%"]
["Reality Decay: Accelerating."]
So the world was falling apart.
And it wasn't just metaphorical.
He turned the corner and stopped cold.
There she was.
Lena.
Again.
But this version was… younger. No older than sixteen, wearing a school uniform and clutching a backpack.
She looked directly at him.
"You're not from here," she said.
"I… No. I'm not."
"I knew it." She smiled faintly. "You look lost. Like someone looking for something they're afraid to find."
"I'm looking for the truth," Ian replied, almost on instinct.
Her expression shifted. "Then you shouldn't be talking to me."
"Why?"
She looked over her shoulder. "Because they're watching."
Before he could respond, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Ian cursed under his breath and followed.
* * *
He trailed her through twisting alleys and crumbling stairwells until she stopped at the edge of a shattered highway bridge.
"I'm not supposed to help you," she said, voice trembling. "But I remember something."
Ian stepped closer. "What do you remember?"
"A place… below the city. Where things begin to fall apart."
"The Archive?"
She shook her head. "No. Deeper. Where the system can't see clearly."
["Warning: Unauthorized interaction."]
["System interference detected."]
["Probability of anomaly spike: High."]
Ian's phone buzzed violently before shutting off.
"Listen," Lena whispered. "You'll find it beneath the water. The spiral's eye is always hidden in reflection."
Then she jumped.
Ian shouted and ran to the edge.
She landed safely—somehow—on a narrow platform below, disappearing into a dark tunnel.
["You must choose: Follow. Or Forget."]
["Decision Point Detected."]
He didn't hesitate.
He jumped.
* * *
The tunnel was damp and cold. The deeper he went, the more reality seemed to flicker—walls shifting, sounds bending.
["Fragment approaching."]
A red door waited at the end. Ian reached for the handle.
As his fingers touched the metal, memories not his own flashed in his mind.
A fire. Screaming. A voice calling his name—his real name.
Not Ian.
But that couldn't be right.
He shook it off and entered.
* * *
Inside was a small room with a single chair. A screen buzzed to life.
Marcus sat on the other side—older, his face lined with exhaustion.
"You found the fracture," he said, as if expecting him.
Ian stared. "Is this really you?"
Marcus didn't answer. "You weren't supposed to reach this point yet. The system is panicking."
"I need answers."
"You need control. And for that, you need truth. Real truth."
"Then give it to me."
Marcus sighed. "Each death doesn't just move you. It breaks a version of you. Eventually, there won't be enough left."
Ian stepped back. "What are you saying?"
"You're not surviving. You're thinning."
["Warning: Reality destabilization imminent."]
["Echo state breach level: RED."]
"You have to make it stop," Ian said.
Marcus met his gaze. "Then find the root. It's not the system."
Ian's breath caught. "Then what is it?"
"You."
* * *
The room vanished.
He was outside again—rain pouring, wind howling.
His phone flickered back on.
["Memory Fragment Acquired: 6/99."]
["New Directive: Seek the Blind Mirror."]
He had no idea what that meant.
But he had to keep moving.
He passed a broken statue of a woman holding a spiral in her hand. Her face looked like Lena's.
Underneath, words were etched in fading gold: "To understand the truth is to lose the lie."
Ian swallowed hard and kept walking.
* * *
By dawn, he reached the river.
It shimmered unnaturally, like liquid glass.
Beneath the surface, he saw flashes—of himself, dying in ways he hadn't yet experienced.
A gun. A fall. Fire. Cold.
He knelt beside the water.
"Blind mirror", he whispered.
The water shifted.
A figure appeared.
Not Lena.
Not Marcus.
Himself.
But different.
Older. Eyes tired. Covered in spirals carved into his skin.
"Don't look too long," the reflection said. "You might not like what you see."
"Who are you?"
"I'm what you become if you fail."
Ian stood.
"I won't."
The reflection smiled. "Then you better start running."
A screech erupted from behind.
The system had found him.
He turned and ran, the reflection fading as the water stilled.
His phone buzzed one last time that morning.
["Memory Fragment Acquired: 7/99."]
["Attempt 3 Complete."]