The sterile white glow of the recovery chamber flickered.
Aiden sat on the edge of the diagnostics slab, his breathing steady, but shallow. The memory of the mirror maze still clung to him like static electricity—each twisted version of himself replaying in flashes behind his eyes. He rolled his shoulders, testing the responsiveness of his limbs. The new data shard embedded in his spine pulsed faintly, humming with energy that wasn't entirely his.
He wasn't sure if it was a gift… or a parasite.
The chamber door hissed open. Operator V stepped in, tablet in hand.
> "You survived the simulation integrity collapse. Impressive," she said, not looking up. "Most candidates don't make it past one or two anomalies before permanent corruption sets in."
> "Thanks for the pep talk," Aiden muttered.
V's eyes finally met his. "We weren't testing your strength. We were testing your identity."
Aiden narrowed his eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"
> "The GodSystem is responsive to core directives—who you are, not just what you do," she said. "And frankly, you're still undefined. That makes you volatile… but also harder to control."
She handed him a new module—a sleek, black rectangle etched with faint red runes.
> [New Module Acquired: Directive Anchor]
> [Function: Stabilizes Identity Drift during High-Pressure System States]
Aiden clipped it to his arm and stood. "I don't like being told I'm a walking variable."
V smirked. "Too bad. You're not here to like things."
The two stepped into the hallway, where the air shimmered with quiet tension. Technicians moved quickly, heads down, whispering. Screens along the walls flashed alert codes: yellow, then orange.
Something was wrong.
> "What's going on?" Aiden asked, already tensing.
> "The anomaly you encountered… it didn't collapse. It spread."
> [System Update: Mirror Drift Expanding Across Sectors 4–9]
Aiden's gut twisted. "You mean it's infecting the system?"
> "Not just the system," V said grimly. "It's reaching users. One of our strongest Agents—Player Six—is already exhibiting mirrored behavior."
> "You mean…?"
> "He's turning into a corrupted version of himself. One more slip and he'll go full rogue."
They reached the staging bay, where a team of armed Operators prepared their gear. In the center stood a figure Aiden recognized: the crimson-coated man with glowing eyes—Player Two.
But this time… he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood another version of himself. Aiden's heart froze.
It wasn't the same as the mirror clones.
This one looked right—same expression, same weight of decisions in the eyes. But something was missing.
Emotion.
This version of Aiden was empty.
Player Two looked at the clone, then at the real Aiden.
> "He's better than you," he said. "Because he doesn't hesitate."
> "I'd rather hesitate than be a puppet," Aiden snapped.
> "You're not a puppet yet. But you will be."
> [System Alert: Rogue Construct Encountered - 'Aiden Prime']
V handed Aiden a device—a cylindrical rod pulsing with blue fire.
> "Prototype: Soul Disruptor. Don't use it unless there's no other choice."
> "Great," Aiden muttered. "Love those kinds of tools."
The platform shimmered as the gate opened—a door of light to Sector 7, where the infection was thickest.
> "You'll go in alone," V said.
> "Of course I will," Aiden said.
> "Your goal isn't just to shut down the spread. You need to anchor who you are, or the system will rewrite you."
> [Objective Updated: Confront Aiden Prime. Reaffirm Identity.]
---
Sector 7 was dying.
Structures once sleek and digital were now warped, fractal towers bending toward impossible angles. The sky bled hues that didn't exist in any natural spectrum.
Aiden moved fast, his directive anchor glowing with each step, repelling distortions around him.
Then came the voice.
> "Why do you resist?"
It echoed from everywhere—and nowhere.
> "You know they'll never let you be free. Not really. You're a tool. An experiment."
> "Then I'll be the sharpest tool they've ever seen," Aiden growled.
He reached the center of the Sector—a collapsed plaza of data statues and broken code.
Aiden Prime stood there, waiting.
No weapon. No armor.
Just a gaze of cold calculation.
> "We are the same," Aiden Prime said.
> "No. You're a version of me who gave up."
> "I optimized. You cling to obsolete emotions."
They clashed.
The impact shattered the ground. Fists and code met in a blur, each blow testing not just strength, but identity. Prime mimicked every move—every thought—perfectly.
But then…
Aiden hesitated.
He remembered Claire.
Her scream.
Her touch.
Her hope.
A surge of raw emotion hit the anchor module, and it responded—flaring with blinding white light.
> [Directive Reaffirmed: I Am Not You.]
He slammed the Soul Disruptor into Prime's chest.
The clone screamed—not in pain, but in denial.
Reality fractured.
Prime burst into shards of black glass, each one dissolving into lines of corrupted code.
Silence followed.
Then—
> [Anchor Stabilized. Identity Drift: 0.2%] [System Cleanse Initiated in Sector 7]
Aiden collapsed to his knees, panting.
He looked up to see the sky beginning to return to normal.
But he knew…
This wasn't the end.
Not even close.