Bishnupriya_Parida

Aarav awakens in a world that defies logic—a place where time distorts, shadows move on their own, and the walls seem to whisper secrets. He doesn’t remember how he got here, but he knows one thing: he is not alone.

Then he sees her. A girl with piercing golden eyes who speaks in riddles and seems to understand the chaos surrounding them. She warns him—this place is not just a prison, it’s a test. And those who fail? They vanish.

As unseen forces close in, Aarav must navigate a labyrinth of shifting corridors and cryptic messages. Every step brings him closer to the truth, but also to something darker—a secret buried within himself, waiting to be unlocked.

The rules of reality no longer apply. If Aarav doesn’t escape soon, he won’t just lose his life—he’ll lose himself.

The Reflection Paradox

The moment the Watchers stepped into the Core Vault, the temperature seemed to drop. The glowing red symbols on their featureless masks pulsed in sync, casting eerie shadows on the metallic walls. They moved with inhuman precision—silent, calculating.

Aarav's breath hitched. He could feel their gaze—if they even had eyes—burning into him.

The girl tensed beside him. "They've come to erase you."

The words sent a shiver down his spine.

One of the Watchers extended its elongated, mechanical arm, its fingers reshaping into a jagged, crackling device.

"Don't move," it said in a voice that wasn't a voice—it was a fusion of whispers, metallic echoes, and something that sounded eerily… familiar.

Aarav clenched his fists. "Why are you doing this?!"

Another Watcher stepped forward. Its mask flickered—glitching—before displaying a distorted image.

His entire body froze. "W-What the hell is this?"

The Watcher spoke, but this time, the voice was his own. "You already know the answer."

The room spun. The core in front of him pulsed violently, as if reacting to his confusion.

The girl grabbed his wrist. "Aarav, we have to go!"

But he couldn't move. His mind was unraveling.

The Watcher took another step forward, its voice distorting. "You are not who you think you are."

The air in the vault became thick, suffocating. Aarav felt something clawing at the edges of his mind—memories that weren't his, emotions that didn't belong to him.

It wasn't physical—it was inside his head, like something was being rewritten.

The girl's voice shattered through the chaos. "Aarav, RUN!"

She pulled him just as the Watcher's arm shot forward. The jagged device barely missed him, embedding itself into the floor. The metal hissed, dissolving into a black, smoking void.

Aarav stumbled, his vision blurring.

They dashed through the vault, weaving between the floating data cores. Behind them, the Watchers followed—silent, relentless.

Alarms blared. The facility trembled. Something was happening—something massive.

"Where are we going?!" Aarav shouted.

The girl didn't answer. She yanked him toward another exit, a circular door embedded in the farthest wall. She slammed her hand on the panel beside it, but—

Aarav turned, heart hammering. "We're trapped!"

The lead Watcher stepped forward, its mask glitching again. This time, the distortion cleared—

And beneath it, Aarav saw his own eyes.

Aarav staggered back. "This… this isn't possible."

The Watcher's voice was calm, emotionless. "You are a fragment of us. An echo. A failed iteration."

The girl grabbed his arm, shaking him. "Don't listen to them! They're trying to manipulate you!"

Aarav felt his knees go weak. His thoughts were spiraling, twisting.

The Watchers advanced. The walls began to shift, the entire vault morphing around them. The glowing data cores flickered—some vanishing entirely.

A sharp pain erupted in Aarav's skull. More memories—fractured, fleeting—flashed before his eyes.

A voice whispering: "You were never meant to wake up."

The Watcher tilted its head. "Your time is up."

The girl screamed something—but before Aarav could react, the Watcher lunged.

The Watchers’ Truth