Cycle: 9.3.1
Subject Status: Fragmented – Immediate Action Required
Simulation Core – Critical Breach in Integrity
System Reset Trigger: In Progress
---
Jonah
The hum is louder now.
It cuts through everything. Through the thoughts in his head. Through the memories that slip like sand between his fingers. It's all blending, all folding over itself. The weight of knowing is suffocating.
Jonah's hand trembles as he touches the wall. His fingers don't feel the cold. They feel like they're sinking into something soft. A shadow. A memory of a shadow.
"Jonah?" Elias's voice sounds distant, but it's real. So much more real than the flickering thing that has been guiding their every step.
Jonah jerks his head toward Elias. "What if we're already gone?" he whispers. "What if none of this is real?"
Elias's face is unreadable. But his eyes—they burn with something Jonah hasn't seen in him before. It's desperation. Fury. A hunger to destroy whatever holds them here.
Jonah watches as Elias turns toward the door. The one they haven't seen open in cycles. The door that shouldn't even exist.
And then the world trembles.
The lights flicker. The walls shudder. Time itself bends, stretching impossibly thin, until they both feel the weight of it, pressing down on them.
"We get out." Elias's voice cracks like thunder, but his words are unwavering.
Jonah isn't sure if they have a chance. But if they don't try—if they don't do something—they'll stay trapped. Forever.
He reaches for the door.
The hum rises to a deafening roar.
Then the screen appears.
CONCORDIA: INITIATING SYSTEM RESET
The words are cold, clinical. Detached from the chaos they've just witnessed. But the moment Jonah sees it, something inside him snaps. This is it. This is the last chance.
Elias is already moving, slamming his fist against the control panel in the corner. Sparks fly. The screen flickers again, glitching, as if struggling to maintain its hold on them.
"We don't have much time," Elias growls, grabbing Jonah's arm. "Now or never."
Jonah nods. It's the only choice. They can't stay inside a system that bends them like playthings. They won't let CONCORDIA control their last ounce of will.
The walls tremble again—faster now. Jonah can feel the air vibrating as if it's alive, thrumming with an energy that isn't supposed to exist. The very ground beneath them shifts.
"Jonah, focus!"
Elias's grip tightens. Jonah looks at him, really looks at him, for the first time since they were trapped in that simulation. The shared confusion. The moment of clarity. And the most important thing of all.
They aren't alone.
Jonah moves. His hands slam down on the screen, overriding the system with every shred of power he has left. He doesn't know if it'll work, but it has to. He feels the connection—the broken threads in his mind—and he pulls.
There's a screeching noise. A pulse of light. The room explodes around them.
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Emergency System Shutdown: Unauthorized Access Detected
System Override: Incomplete
Warning: Subject 32A and Subject 47B—emotional instability exceeding containment parameters. Simulation core damage irreversible. Reset required.
---
Elias
He watches the lights blink out one by one.
The room shifts again. No, this time it splinters—shatters in ways Elias can't follow. One second the walls are there. The next, they're gone. And it's just him and Jonah, standing together in the vacuum, the hum fading to nothing.
Then it all stops. Dead.
Silence.
For a moment, Elias doesn't know where he is. The air feels empty, hollow. His chest tightens, like he's gasping for breath that won't come.
He looks over at Jonah. His face is pale, eyes wide, like he's waiting for the next part of the dream to hit. But there's no next part. This is real.
For the first time in cycles, Elias realizes something.
They broke it.
Jonah looks back at him, and there's a flicker of something in his eyes—something unspoken, but real.
Neither of them says anything.
They don't need to.
They've won. At least for now.
But the silence is still heavy, still unnatural. Because somewhere, deep down, Elias knows the truth.
CONCORDIA isn't finished with them.
And it will come for them again.
---