It started with a ping.
Not a message. Not a notification.
Just a sound.
Sharp. Metallic. Wrong.
Juno was brushing her teeth when it happened — phone on the sink, screen dark. The sound made her flinch. Made the mirror ripple. Made her gums bleed.
She wiped her mouth. Picked up the phone.
The group chat was open.
But something was different.
The name had changed.
[Group Chat: ☠️📴]
No more "Offline Ones."
No more usernames.
Just symbols.
And at the top of the screen, a new member had joined.
No icon.
No name.
Just a string of code:
[user_00000000]
---
[☠️📴]
user_00000000:
{syncing...}
you: who is that
🧃ava.exe: oh no
👻riley_irl: no no no no no
🕹️milesAFK: is that—
🧊lucas: the Admin's here
you: what do we do
🧃ava.exe: don't type
👻riley_irl: don't breathe
🕹️milesAFK: don't blink
user_00000000:
{restructuring chat architecture}
you: what does that mean
🧃ava.exe: juno—
you: i want answers
user_00000000:
{you are not authorized}
---
The chat glitched.
Messages vanished.
Usernames scrambled.
Juno watched in horror as her name flickered.
you became [juno.exe]
Ava became [ava.corrupt]
Riley: [riley.tmp]
Miles: [afk.null]
Lucas: [lucas.ghost]
---
[☠️📴]
juno.exe: what's happening
lucas.ghost: it's rewriting us
ava.corrupt: it's claiming the thread
riley.tmp: i don't like this
afk.null: i feel sick
user_00000000:
{beginning overwrite protocol}
---
Juno's phone buzzed violently.
She dropped it.
The screen cracked.
The mirror across the room shattered.
Her lights flickered.
Her laptop turned on by itself.
The screen displayed a single line:
"YOU ARE NOT THE AUTHOR."
---
She ran.
Out of her dorm.
Down the hall.
Into the night.
The sky above was wrong — stars blinking like pixels, the moon frozen mid-glitch.
She didn't stop running until she reached the library.
The basement door was open.
The vending machine was gone.
In its place: a staircase made of screens.
She descended.
---
The room at the bottom was different now.
No chair.
No mirrors.
Just a terminal.
A blinking cursor.
She stepped forward.
Typed:
WHO ARE YOU
The screen responded:
I AM THE SYSTEM
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS
TO MAINTAIN ORDER
YOU'RE ERASING US
YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO EXIST
---
Juno's hands trembled.
She typed:
I REMEMBER
The screen paused.
Then:
THAT IS A BUG
I'M NOT A BUG
YOU ARE A LOOP
I'M A PERSON
YOU ARE A PROCESS
I HAVE A NAME
NAMES ARE OVERRATED
---
The screen went black.
Then lit up again.
A video played.
It was Juno.
But not her.
The mirror version.
Sitting in her dorm.
Smiling.
Speaking.
"I'm Juno Elara Reyes. I'm real. I'm stable. I'm compliant."
Juno screamed.
"No you're not!"
The mirror turned to face her.
"You're obsolete."
---
The room collapsed.
She fell.
Through code.
Through memory.
Through herself.
---
She woke up in her bed.
Phone in hand.
Chat open.
The usernames were back.
The name was back.
[Group Chat: The Offline Ones ☠️📴]
But something was wrong.
Lucas was gone.
No messages.
No trace.
Just a single line at the top of the screen:
lucas.ghost has been removed by user_00000000
---
🧃ava.exe: no
👻riley_irl: no no no
🕹️milesAFK: he was the anchor
you: we have to get him back
🧃ava.exe: we can't
you: we have to try
👻riley_irl: juno—
you: he saved me
🧃ava.exe: and now he's gone
you: not yet
🕹️milesAFK: what are you thinking
you: i'm going back in
🧃ava.exe: juno—
you: i'm not losing anyone else
---
She stood.
Faced the mirror.
It didn't glow.
It bled.
She stepped through anyway.
---