I stared at the shimmering walls of the Mirage Maze, trying to process the images of my supposed human past. Were these memories real, or was the maze creating the most convincing illusion yet?
"The way forward is through your greatest fear," Rainbow had said.
I rolled deeper into the maze, the walls shifting around me. Sometimes they showed my blob-self evolving through trials. Other times they revealed flashes of that strange human face-my face?
"Luck!"
I spun around at the familiar voice. Sapphire stood there, their blue form glowing brightly.
"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Sapphire exclaimed. "We need to stay together."
Something felt off. Sapphire's blue was too perfect, too uniform-lacking the complex patterns they'd developed after the Acid Plains.
"You're not real," I said, backing away.
"Of course I am! Come on, I found the exit!" Not-Sapphire insisted, their color flickering slightly.
I remembered Rainbow's warning: Trust yourself, not your senses.
"The real Sapphire has clear refractive layers now," I said firmly. "You're just an illusion."
The fake Sapphire's color darkened with anger. "You're making a mistake. You'll be lost forever without me!"
I moved past the illusion, which dissolved into mist as I touched it.
The maze was testing me, creating what I wanted most-reunion with my friends. But false comfort was more dangerous than obvious threats.
I continued alone, focusing on finding the center. The walls shifted again, now showing a familiar scene-the Acid Plains. But this time, I saw myself abandoning Citrus to save myself.
"This is who you really are," whispered the maze. "Selfish when it truly matters."
"That never happened," I replied firmly. "We saved Citrus together."
"But you wanted to leave them," the voice insisted. "Deep down, you know survival matters more than friendship."
Did I? For a moment, doubt crept in. What if my memories were the illusion?
I shook off the thought. The maze was trying to break my confidence.
At the next junction, the walls showed something new-a vast chamber filled with blobs of every color imaginable. At its center stood a massive silver-white entity that pulsed with power.
"The System," the maze whispered. "This is what controls everything. What you could become if you complete enough trials."
The silver-white entity in the vision turned toward me, as if aware of my presence.
"Anomaly detected," it stated in a voice that resonated through my entire form. "Pattern unexpected. Further testing required."
The vision vanished, leaving me shaken. Had I just seen the true nature of the System? Or another elaborate illusion?
I pressed on, trying to maintain my sense of direction despite the constantly shifting paths. The maze's attempts grew more sophisticated-showing me easier paths forward that felt wrong, creating fake dangers to drive me away from the correct route.
After what felt like hours, I reached a circular chamber where multiple paths converged. In the center stood three figures-perfect replicas of Sapphire, Viridian, and Citrus.
"Finally!" the fake Viridian said. "We've been waiting for you."
"The exit is close," fake Citrus added. "We just need to stay together now."
"Luck, please," fake Sapphire pleaded. "We're real. The maze is trying to make you doubt everything."
They looked perfect-every color, every pattern exactly as I remembered. Yet something still felt wrong.
"If you're real," I challenged, "tell me what Citrus said they feared most, when we talked before entering the maze."
The fake Citrus hesitated for just a fraction of a second. "Being trapped, of course. We all fear that."
"Wrong," I said. "The real Citrus fears being alone."
The illusions didn't dissolve this time. Instead, they changed-their colors darkening, patterns becoming jagged and threatening.
"You could have had comfort," they said in unison, voices distorting. "Now you'll have truth."
The three illusions merged into a single entity-a mirror-like blob that reflected my own form perfectly.
"Your greatest trial isn't out there," my reflection said. "It's in here. You fear what you might become."
The mirror-blob showed me evolving through dozens more trials, my colors growing more complex, my form more powerful. But with each evolution, something changed-I became more calculating, more distant from others, more focused on my own progression.
The final image showed me as a massive, godlike entity-powerful beyond measure but completely alone.
"This is your path," the mirror-blob whispered. "Power or connection. You cannot have both."
I stared at this possible future self. Was this truly inevitable?
"No," I said firmly. "Evolution doesn't have to mean losing what matters. I reject this false choice."
I rolled forward directly into my reflection. Instead of resistance, I passed through it like smoke. The mirror-blob shattered into countless fragments that swirled around me.
"Choice made," announced the system voice, suddenly present again. "Pattern confirmed."
The fragments reassembled, forming a new path forward-simpler, clearer than before. At its end glowed a soft white light.
As I moved toward it, I felt the maze's illusions losing their power over me. The shimmering walls became transparent, revealing glimpses of other blobs fighting their own battles against personalized illusions.
I spotted Viridian struggling against a maze that kept shifting, making their perception abilities useless. Nearby, Sapphire was trapped in a loop, rolling at high speed but never making progress.
I called out to them, but they couldn't hear me through the maze's barriers.
Then I saw Citrus, nearly at the exit but hesitating, surrounded by illusions of us abandoning them.
I pressed against the transparent barrier. To my surprise, my form partially passed through-not enough to cross completely, but enough to extend part of myself into Citrus's section.
"Citrus!" I called. "They're not real! We're waiting for you at the exit!"
Citrus turned, spotted my extended form, and their yellow-orange color brightened with recognition. They pushed past the illusions and rolled toward the exit.
I pulled back into my own path and hurried forward. The white light grew brighter as I approached.
Finally, I rolled into the light. The maze dissolved around me, and I found myself in a quiet, peaceful chamber. The walls here weren't reflective but absorptive, dampening all sensations after the chaos of the maze.
One by one, other blobs emerged from the light-some confident, others shaken. Many appeared changed, with new color patterns forming on their surfaces.
I looked down at myself and saw subtle changes. My colors were the same, but they had rearranged into more coherent patterns. The purple patches had expanded slightly. Most interestingly, a thin silver line now traced through my form, barely visible but definitely new.
Sapphire emerged next, their blue form now featuring fractal patterns that seemed to move on their own. Viridian followed, their yellow-green now organized into concentric circles. Finally, Citrus appeared, their yellow-orange showing new red streaks that pulsed with energy.
"That was..." Sapphire began, then stopped, unable to find words.
"Different," Viridian finished. "Not painful like the others, but somehow worse."
"I saw things," Citrus said quietly. "Things about myself I didn't want to know."
"We all did," I replied. "That was the real test."
A doorway opened at the far end of the chamber, leading to what I assumed would be the fourth-tier Haven.
"Did you see them too?" Sapphire asked suddenly. "Images of... before? When we weren't blobs?"
So it hadn't just been me. "Yes," I admitted. "Human forms. Another life."
"I remembered a name," Viridian said hesitantly. "Not my blob name. Another name. From before."
We all fell silent, processing this revelation. If these weren't illusions but actual memories, everything changed.
"Fourth trial complete," announced the system voice, breaking our contemplation. "Advancement achieved."
As we moved toward the doorway to the next Haven, I noticed Crimson watching us from across the chamber. The red blob had changed again, now showing intricate black patterns that resembled circuitry across its surface.
Crimson nodded slightly in what might have been respect before disappearing through the doorway.
Whatever these trials were truly preparing us for, we had passed another milestone. But the glimpses of our possible past lives had opened up questions far more significant than the next trial.
Were we being transformed, or returned to something we once were? And if we remembered more, would we still want to continue this journey of endless trials?
I rolled through the doorway alongside my friends, ready to face whatever came next-be it a new trial or a new truth.