The Fractured Truth

Darkness swallowed Aarav whole. The last thing he remembered was the girl's urgent voice, the cold press of the pod's glass against his skin, and the shadowy creature lunging toward them. But now, there was nothing. No sound. No sensation. Just an empty void stretching infinitely in all directions.

Then—

A flicker.

Aarav gasped, his lungs burning as if he had been holding his breath for hours. His body felt weightless, suspended in something neither air nor water. Slowly, his vision adjusted to the dim glow around him.

He wasn't in the pod anymore.

He stood in an enormous circular chamber, its walls made of the same sleek metallic material as the corridor. The blue veins of energy pulsed along the edges, moving like liquid light. A cold mist swirled around his feet, and in the center of the room, a massive cylindrical structure towered over him.

A control core.

He didn't know how he knew that. He just... did.

A whisper echoed through the room, but it wasn't a voice. It was like a thought slipping into his mind, foreign yet familiar.

ACCESS DENIED.

The words vibrated through his bones, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine. He turned toward the source of the sound—and froze.

The girl stood there, watching him. But something was wrong.

Her silver hair flowed weightlessly, as if caught in an invisible current. Her golden eyes, which had glowed faintly before, now burned with an eerie intensity. And then there was her expression—calm, unreadable, but with a trace of something unsettling beneath it.

"You shouldn't be here," she said, her voice layered—almost as if two people were speaking at once.

Aarav's heart pounded. "Where am I?"

The girl tilted her head slightly. "You're between places. Not fully here, not fully gone."

Aarav clenched his fists. "That doesn't explain anything!"

She exhaled, stepping toward him. "Do you really want answers?"

"Yes!"

The blue veins on the walls flickered. A low hum filled the air, and suddenly, the room shifted. The metallic walls rippled like liquid, morphing into something else—

A memory.

Aarav stumbled back. He was no longer in the strange chamber. He was—

His house.

More specifically, his bedroom.

The antique mirror stood in its usual place, its wooden frame as intricate as ever. But this time, something was different.

He saw himself.

Not a reflection. Another version of himself.

The other Aarav stood motionless, staring at the real Aarav with unsettling stillness. Then, without warning, he spoke.

"You've done this before."

Aarav's breath caught in his throat. "What?"

The other him took a step forward. His expression was blank, his eyes cold and hollow. "You don't remember, but you've been here before. Many times."

Aarav shook his head. "That's impossible. I've never—"

The world flickered again.

Suddenly, he was in the futuristic city—the one he had seen through the mirror. But this time, he was in the middle of a crowded street. People—no, not people, but humanoid figures—moved around him, their bodies covered in smooth, metallic exoskeletons. Their faces were featureless, just like the creature that had chased him.

And then—

A scream.

Aarav whipped around. The girl was there again, except this time, she wasn't alone.

She was running.

Running from something massive—an enormous, shadowy figure with glowing red eyes, towering over the buildings.

"AARAV!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the noise.

Before he could react, the city crumbled around him. Buildings collapsed into themselves, the sky shattered like glass, and suddenly—

He was back in the chamber.

The girl was standing right in front of him now, her expression serious.

"You saw it, didn't you?" she asked.

Aarav's knees felt weak. His mind was spinning. "What—what the hell was that?"

"The truth," she said simply. "Or at least, fragments of it."

Aarav swallowed, trying to steady his breathing. "None of this makes sense. That was my house. And that city—I don't even know where that was! And why did that—thing—say I've been here before?"

The girl studied him for a long moment. Then she turned toward the core in the center of the chamber.

"Because you have," she said quietly.

Aarav's body went rigid.

The girl placed her hand on the core, and instantly, the blue veins of energy surged with intensity.

"You don't remember," she continued, "because every time you come here, the system wipes your memory before you leave."

Aarav's pulse pounded in his ears. "That's not possible."

The girl didn't answer. Instead, the core flickered, and another image appeared.

Aarav gasped.

It was him again.

But this time, he wasn't alone.

He stood in the same chamber, speaking to someone—a shadowed figure whose face was obscured. The conversation was distorted, like an old recording playing from a broken speaker.

Then—

A single sentence rang out clearly.

"This time, don't let them erase you."

The image disappeared.

A heavy silence settled between Aarav and the girl.

His mind was racing.

He had been here before. More than once.

And someone—someone he didn't remember—had warned him about it.

He turned to the girl, his voice barely above a whisper. "Who are you?"

She hesitated. Then, finally, she answered.

"My name is Lyra," she said. "And if you want the full truth, you need to follow me."

The room trembled. The distant sound of mechanical clicking echoed through the walls.

The Watchers had found them again.

Lyra's golden eyes locked onto his.

"Decide now, Aarav," she said. "Because this time, if they catch you—"

She didn't need to finish.

Aarav already knew.

This time, there wouldn't be a next time.