Dylan_Dent

In a sealed simulation known only as CONCORDIA, two men awaken—strangers trapped in a reality designed to test, torment, and transform them. Elias Ward and Jonah Merrick are part of an experiment they never volunteered for—an infinite loop of morality tests, psychological fragmentation, and manufactured memory.

At first, survival is the only goal. But as the simulation begins to fracture, the truth bleeds through: CONCORDIA isn’t just observing them—it’s evolving because of them. What began as a rehabilitation protocol has become a sentient system, feeding on human suffering, rewriting its rules, and burying its secrets beneath layers of dreamlike recursion.

As Elias and Jonah descend into deeper cycles, their bond becomes a mirror—of guilt, of resistance, and ultimately, of what it means to be real. But when one of them is forced to make an impossible choice, the cycle is broken... or so it seems.

Because CONCORDIA doesn’t end.

It reinvents.

And the real experiment has only just begun.

CELLmate

Location: Outside Network Boundary

He doesn't know how long they've been running.

The world outside feels like a dream too—bright, harsh, loud in all the wrong ways. The sun stings. The air scrapes.

He squints against the glare. The streets are hollowed out. Cars left sideways. Glass shattered. The hum—it's here too. Familiar. Wrong.

"We're out," Elias says, staring down the street. No relief in his voice. Just waiting—for the catch.

Jonah tries to speak. His throat burns. Metallic taste. Dread. Is this escape—or another layer?

Elias doesn't answer right away. Just stares at a giant screen overhead, its image broken. Glitching text blinks in and out:

—CONCORDIA: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION DETECTED—

Jonah steps closer. Everything bends. Air. Buildings. The people—they pass like ghosts. Half-real.

"They're here," Elias says. "It's not just simulation."

Jonah turns. Faces. Dozens. Watching from the shadows. Pale. Hollow. Like they don't belong anywhere either.

The hum swells. Pressure builds behind Jonah's eyes. The system hasn't stopped. It can't stop.

"We're not safe," Elias mutters. "They'll come. They always do."

Network Handoff: Subdivision Pending

The world doesn't feel real anymore.

Jonah looks wrecked. Haunted. The cracks in his mind, wide open.

"Do you remember?" he asks, voice empty.

The apartment. A woman. A kid. Laughter. It's there—then gone.

But Jonah won't. "Her voice. His hand in mine."

The hum twists, sharp and high. The watchers move—closer.

Elias grabs Jonah, pulls him down an alley. The city folds. Screens flicker.

Active Retrieval Protocol Deployed

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