Through the Looking Glass

The silence in the lab was shattered by a low humming sound. A pulse of blue light radiated from the central core of the experiment chamber, flickering like a heartbeat. Amelia and Orion stood side by side, their eyes locked on the containment unit.

"It's starting again," Amelia whispered, tightening her grip on the data tablet. "Same resonance pattern as before. But stronger."

Orion adjusted the dials, his brow furrowed. "This shouldn't be possible. The energy levels… they're mimicking human neural frequencies."

Before Amelia could respond, the light intensified, forming a translucent portal-like ripple in the air. Through it, they could see glimpses of another world—twisted reflections of their own lab, but covered in vines, dust, and eerie darkness. A mirror universe.

"It's the other side," Orion murmured. "The reality we've been touching with every phase of the Moonlight Experiment."

Amelia stepped forward, drawn by a strange force. Her hand brushed the edge of the portal, and in that instant, her vision blurred.

She wasn't in the lab anymore.

Instead, she stood in the shadowed ruins of the facility. The air was cold. Silent. Moonlight streamed in through broken glass, illuminating faded photographs on the wall—images of herself and Orion, only… they looked older. And broken.

Footsteps echoed behind her. She turned.

It was another Amelia—eyes hollow, expression hard, as though carrying years of betrayal.

"You shouldn't have come," the other version said.

Amelia's heart pounded. "What is this place?"

"The price of pushing too far. Of opening doors that should have remained closed."

The sound of crashing static surged, and the world began to tremble. A voice—Orion's—called her name from the other side.

Amelia reached out, but the other version of herself grabbed her wrist.

"You'll bring it back with you," she warned. "The Shadow that lives between the timelines. Don't let it follow."

With a final surge of will, Amelia tore free and stumbled back through the portal. She landed in Orion's arms, gasping for breath.

"You disappeared for less than a second," he said, eyes wide.

But Amelia knew. Time moved differently on the other side. And something had seen her.

It wasn't just an experiment anymore.

It was an awakening.