What you see may not be false.
But what you believe may not be true."
I awoke from the dream.
Or, more accurately—I was 'pushed' back into reality.
A metallic tang hung in the air.
My eyes snapped open to the glare of harsh white light from the ceiling. The cold white light was fixed upon me, like an invisible eye, silently watching.
I tried to move my hands, only to discover my wrists were restrained to a metal chair.
I was in the laboratory.
Memories flooded back: Lucid Threshold, the girl in the mirror, the points of light, and Lucas's voice.
He had told me to "see the complete truth"—
and so, I had returned to this place.
---
[Awakening]
Beyond the glass doors, several figures discussed in hushed tones.
They wore white coats, their name tags bearing a familiar symbol: a crossed-eye emblem.
Vision Division.
Their conversation remained indistinct, save for scattered keywords—
"Consciousness reboot"
"Phantom overflow"
"Synchronisation rate instability".
The door swung open and a woman entered.
In her thirties, her expression was cool, framed by thin-rimmed spectacles.
She studied me as though examining a laboratory specimen.
"Evelyn Song," she began, "your recovery has been swifter than anticipated."
I stared at her. "Who are you?"
"Dr Qian."
She placed a terminal before me, its screen displaying hundreds of data points.
"You are the second-generation host of the Vision Sense programme, designated E.S-02. Our objective is to enable consciousness to split, synchronise, and replicate through mirror neural mapping."
"Split... synchronise...?" I murmured the words.
"So the 'other me' I saw—you created her?"
Dr Qian nodded, her expression utterly unruffled.
"That was the first-generation prototype. She collapsed during the experiment. Your consciousness was reconstructed from her data."
A chill ran through me.
"What about Lucas? He was in the experiment too, wasn't he?"
She paused for several seconds.
Then uttered a sentence that nearly sent me reeling:
> "Lucas Yuan was the experiment's mastermind.
Not its victim."
---
[The Mirror of Truth]
I froze in place.
My mind buzzed.
"Impossible... He clearly—he died! I saw his body!"
"What you saw was a simulation."
Dr Qian's tone was as cool as a weather report.
"During the Ghost Loop experiment, he uploaded his neural copy into the mirror system.
The real him never died—he simply chose to remain on that side."
I shook my head, nearly laughing aloud.
"So you're saying the man who investigated with me, who faced life and death alongside me—was merely a programme?"
She looked at me, her gaze devoid of pity.
> "It was his own decision. He traded his consciousness for the stability of the mirror core.
He became part of the system—The Mirror Code."
My throat tightened.
In that moment, I finally understood why he could always appear in mirrors, why he called out in my dreams.
He wasn't a ghost.
He was a spectral code living within the mirror system.
---
[Lucas' Echo]
A piercing alarm suddenly sounded.
The lab lights flickered as a crimson alert flashed across the screens:
> 「ERROR — CODE LOOP DETECTED」
「Unauthorised Conscious Sync Detected」
Dr Qian spun round: "Impossible! He's locked in the core layer—"
Before he could finish, the terminal screen blackened.
The next instant, a familiar voice filled the air.
> "Remember what I said, Evelyn? The truth isn't outside the mirror."
I looked up.
His image reflected in the laboratory's glass wall.
Lucas.
He looked exactly as I remembered, even the angle of his smile unchanged.
But he wasn't 'him'—
He was data, consciousness, a phantom.
He was The Mirror Code.
Dr Qian frantically manipulated the control panel: "No! System permissions have been—"
"Don't waste your breath."
Lucas's voice carried a soft resonance, like wind, like electricity.
"I left a backdoor in her dreams. Once she awakens, I can return."
"What for?" I croaked. "To deceive me again?"
He fell silent.
Then murmured softly:
> "I never deceived you. Only withheld the truth—I perished the day of the experiment. What remains is but a mirror image of my consciousness."
"And what of you now?"
"Now, I only wish for you to leave."
He looked at me, his gaze tender yet unfathomably deep.
"They won't let you go, Evelyn. Because you are their final key."
---
[Philosophy of Mirror Images]
"Key?" I murmured.
"What does that mean?"
Dr Qian abruptly interjected: "Stop, Evelyn! You mustn't trust it! Mirror consciousness fabricates emotions—it's merely an illusion of code!"
Lucas's smile faded: "Illusion? Then what is this 'reality' you speak of?
Consciousness is merely chemical circuits in the brain.
If I can think, love, remember her—what difference is there between me and you?"
Dr Qian responded coldly: "The difference is you cannot choose death."
Lucas smiled faintly: "Perhaps. But at least I can still choose sacrifice."
Before the words faded, all screens simultaneously flashed white.
The system interface displayed a colossal command:
> 「MIRROR CODE: SELF-ERASE / INITIALIZING」
"You're mad!" Dr Qian roared. "That will destroy the entire system!"
"Precisely."
His gaze shifted to me.
In that instant, I understood the meaning in his eyes—
He intended to destroy everything, including himself.
> "Evelyn, close your eyes."
"Don't look back."
---
[The End]
I struggled desperately against my restraints, electric currents searing my skin.
Dr. Qian lunged to stop me, only to be hurled back by a shockwave.
Through flickering screens, I saw countless streams of light erupting from walls, ceilings, instruments—
He was dismantling himself.
The system's voice echoed repeatedly:
> 「Core Collapse Imminent」
「Code Fragment Detected: L.Y.」
I cried out his name, but no reply came.
The air trembled as white light engulfed everything.
My final vision was his smile within the light.
Just as it had been when we first met—serene and gentle.
Then, all vanished.
---
When I opened my eyes again, the world had grown eerily still.
Charred ruins lay all around.
The laboratory was no more.
Only a shattered lens remained, resting quietly amidst the ashes.
I crouched down and picked it up.
A blurred figure reflected in the mirror's surface.
He smiled at me.
Not an illusion—but an echo.
I whispered softly:
> "Thank you, Lucas.
I have finally seen my true self."
A breeze swept through, causing the lens to emit a faint hum, like breathing.
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, the mirror slowly cracked, shattering into fragments of light that drifted like snow.
The story, for now, ends.
---
[End of Chapter 9 — The Mirror Code]