Chapter 9: The Mirror Room

The sirens blared as Kazuki tore through the corridors, barefoot and bleeding. The halls felt endless—identical, sterile, metallic. But he didn't stop.

His mind raced with fragments:

> You're not Kazuki.

One of twelve.

Escape Mode Engaged.

Each thought stung worse than the cuts on his feet.

Then he saw it.

A massive circular door at the end of the hall labeled:

> MIRROR ROOM - LEVEL 0

With no time to think, he slammed the control panel. Surprisingly, it opened.

Inside?

Mirrors.

Hundreds of them—suspended in midair, turning slowly, each reflecting a different version of him.

Some looked older. Some younger. Some… in pain.

And then, he saw her again.

Standing in the center of the room, no longer in a lab coat—now wearing a reflection suit: mirrored fabric that shimmered and bent light unnaturally.

"You shouldn't have come here," she said. "They'll find you."

Kazuki backed away. "Why do you keep saying they? Who are they?"

She stepped forward, removing her mask.

"I'm not real either," she confessed. "I'm your twin copy—Version K-06-F. I was created to stabilize you."

His breath caught.

"I don't understand any of this."

"You will." She held up a strange object—a crystal shard shaped like a shard of glass, glowing faintly blue.

"This is your origin," she said. "Touch it… and you'll see the truth."

He hesitated.

But then, a loud metallic crash echoed behind them.

Doors exploding open.

Footsteps.

> They were here.

With no time left, Kazuki grabbed the shard.

Pain.

Then light.

Then—

> Every mirror shattered at once.