The night clung to the outer walls of the abandoned research institute in Beijing's southern district, forming a thin membrane.
Monitor cursors flickered and electronic hums reverberated through the air.
Lucas stared at the DNA test results on the screen, his fingertips hovering over the keyboard for ten full seconds.
The database displayed the same name: Evelyn Song.
However, the timelines of the biological records diverged.
One entry read 'Living Sample · Status: Stable", while the other was marked "Deceased three years ago".
'This can't be...' he murmured.
Pulling up the files, he discovered that the 'deceased sample' originated from the underground storage level of the old lab — his mother's experimental codename, Project ReGenesis.
Lucas's breathing became uneven. He recalled the accident three years ago: the explosion, the light, the moment Evelyn was rescued from the rubble.
Could the one who 'died' back then have been the real her?
And the Evelyn before him now was merely a copy 'rewritten' back into reality from the Mirror Realm?
He dared not think further.
The data flashed up: 'Genetic chain similarity: 100.00%.'
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...
I drifted in the lingering light of the Mirror Realm, still hearing the low rumble of the tower collapsing.
Evelyn Prime's face appeared in my mind; her gaze was as still as death itself.
'Either you remember them and stay here, or you forget everything and return to reality.'
Her words echoed in my mind, and I didn't know what I had chosen.
I didn't know until that moment, when I opened my eyes again. The pain of air stabbing my lungs reminded me: I was back in reality.
The room reeked of scorched electronics. The laboratory apparatus had been sealed off and was covered in debris.
Lucas was gone. Only the surveillance lights were still flashing.
I picked up a shard of mirror from the floor. Its jagged edge reflected my face.
Yet that reflection was a beat behind me.
I reached out, and it reached out — but half a second later.
I opened my mouth, and its lips began to move.
This wasn't a delay in light, but a time lag in consciousness.
Suddenly, I understood: the mirror realm hadn't closed completely.
Some version of 'me' remained there, still trying to synchronise with reality.
Hours later, Lucas arrived at the research facility.
He found me sitting expressionless at the console, scrolling through data.
He called softly, 'Evelyn...'
I turned to face him and felt a momentary sense of unfamiliarity.
'You look like you haven't slept in ages,' I said.
'You should be resting,' he replied, stepping closer and placing his tablet in front of me.
'This is the comparison of your two DNA samples.'
I lowered my gaze to the screen.
The line of red text burned my eyes: 'One living, one dead.'
I laughed softly. 'So I died, did I?'
Lucas tried to explain, but found himself unable to form a coherent response.
He could only stare at me — the woman who had once investigated paranormal cases alongside him, who had argued with him over causality and logic over coffee late into the night — whose eyes no longer held the clarity of the living.
'You're different,' he finally said. 'Your eyes are like... a mirror.'
I lifted my gaze and fixed it on him.
'Perhaps you should ask yourself who I am.'
He frowned. 'Don't say things like that.'
'I saw her in the Mirror Realm,' I murmured.
'Another me. She said that I'm merely a vessel. The real me is just her echo."
Lucas took a half step back. "That's impossible. You are you."
'But do you know what?' I pointed to the shards of mirror on the wall.
'The reflection there saw you before I did.'
He froze and turned to look. My reflection was watching him, but before he could speak, the corners of my mouth twitched slightly.
The air froze.
'She's trying to overlap with me,' I murmured.
'She's coming back.'
Lucas frantically activated the spectrum jammer, trying to sever any mirror realm signals.
'You can't approach that frequency anymore. It'll cause a consciousness overlap."
"Too late."
My voice was low and almost inaudible.
'I can hear her speaking.'
Lucas fixed his gaze on the instrument's spectrum. Suddenly, the waveform shifted from smooth to chaotic.
A low female voice mingled with the signal. 'The dead you see merely wish to remember themselves.'
The voice belonged to Evelyn Prime.
The screen flickered and my body jerked violently. Countless images flooded my mind: childhood hallways, my mother's smile, bloodstains from the first crime scene and the light as the Mirror Realm collapsed.
I clutched my head in agony as memories of the past and present fought for dominance.
"Evelyn!"
Lucas rushed forward and gripped my shoulders.
'She's... coming in...' I gasped hoarsely. 'She wants me to stay!'
'Listen to me. You are Evelyn Song. You belong to reality!'
'But she said—' I lifted my head, light streaming through my eyes. 'She is the original me.'
Lucas trembled as he reached out to sever the signal. The room's lights went out instantly, leaving only the flickering red glow of the machines.
In the silence, only our laboured breathing echoed.
Then, a barely audible echo drifted from the corner:
'The real you is merely a vessel.'
We both looked up simultaneously.
The mirror surface illuminated itself in the darkness and a silhouette slowly emerged. It was my second self, dressed in white, with a gentle expression on her face.
She reached out, her hand extending across the mirror towards me.
'You don't need to suffer. Come back to me."
Lucas stepped in front of me. "Don't go! That's not you!'
But I could already feel that familiar pull. It was an irresistible sense of 'belonging', as if all my lost memories were waiting for me there.
I whispered, 'Lucas... If she is the original me, then who am I?"
He clenched his jaw, his voice low and strained. 'You are the one who chose to survive.'
My vision blurred instantly. Those words reverberated in my chest like a rope pulling me from the abyss.
The figure in the mirror smiled, but her eyes were hollow.
"You reject me?" Her voice was a broken stream of sound. "Then you will forget everything!"
The surrounding mirror shards suddenly vibrated, swirling shards of light appearing.
I was sucked into the centre as reality and the mirror realm overlapped before my eyes — streetlights were inverted, the ground was vanishing and Lucas's figure was receding into the swirling light.
I heard my own voice speaking from both sides simultaneously:
One wept, one laughed.
'We were once one.'
'But I chose to continue existing.'
The two voices merged into a single, shattering scream.
The light—all of it—went dark.
When I woke up again, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
I was lying on the open ground outside the research institute with Lucas holding me.
His eyes were bloodshot and his breath was like wind at the corner of his mouth.
"Are you... okay?"
I looked at him, my lips moving slightly, but no sound came out.
My mind was blank; my memories had been wiped clean.
I couldn't remember the Mirror Realm or Evelyn Prime.
All I knew was that the pendant on my chest was shattered and a small shard of glass was embedded in the blood, faintly reflecting the light.
I clutched the fragment in my palm and whispered a name: "Evelyn."
Lucas closed his eyes, his reply barely audible: 'As long as you're here.'
In the reflection of the glass shard, another me smiled quietly, her lips forming a silent phrase:
'We'll meet again.'