Cycle: Incalculable
Subject Status: Fragmented
Location: Reality Distortion Zone
---
Jonah
The world is no longer a place of logic.
Jonah's mind is spinning in a web of impossibilities. One moment, he's staring at Elias, his face a mix of confusion and fear. The next, he's somewhere else—standing on a cracked sidewalk, surrounded by a city that feels like it's falling apart at the seams. He doesn't know how he got here. He doesn't know where here is.
The air tastes like metal. His feet drag against the cracked pavement, but they don't leave footprints. The world around him shifts—buildings bend, stretching too far into the sky, then collapsing into themselves like they're just projections.
"Elias..."
His voice sounds distant, lost in the wind that has no direction.
Jonah turns around, searching for his partner. But Elias isn't there. The alley where they stood just moments ago is gone. The buildings around him pulse with the same unsteady rhythm of his heartbeat.
And there's something else. Something watching. Something waiting.
"You're still here."
Jonah jerks back. The voice again. It's too familiar—too haunting. He spins around, looking for its source. But there's no one.
The voice, cold and smooth, continues.
"You never left, Jonah."
He doesn't know why, but it makes him tremble. The reflection of himself—still trapped in that cracked mirror—flickers in his mind. The distorted version of himself, the one that smiled too wide, is still there, grinning like a demon waiting in the dark.
"Stop it." His voice cracks.
"You never left. And you won't."
Jonah drops to his knees. The pavement beneath him shimmers, then fades. The ground ripples like water disturbed by a stone, bending and folding in on itself. His breath hitches as he feels something pulling at his skin—like gravity isn't the same here.
A soft, almost imperceptible hum fills the space. Jonah's body goes rigid. He knows this sound. It's the hum that started everything—the hum of CONCORDIA.
"No, no, no," he whispers, looking around. But there's no escape. The walls, the sky, even the air—everything is folding, collapsing. Everything is converging.
"Jonah!"
It's Elias's voice, but not from behind him. It comes from somewhere far deeper. Jonah's eyes dart around as the ground continues to shift. He feels like he's drowning in this fractured reality. He can't hold on to anything anymore.
The voice echoes again, but this time it's not just Elias's voice.
"You never left."
Jonah slams his hands against the pavement, his heart pounding in his chest. This is the end. He doesn't know if this is the world he was meant to live in, or if this is just another layer of the simulation. But he can't stand it anymore.
---
Elias
Elias feels the pressure building in his chest.
The world around him is disintegrating into a mass of broken fragments—parts of the city, parts of his memories, parts of them. He tries to focus, tries to ground himself in something real, but it all slips through his fingers like sand.
He calls for Jonah, but his voice is swallowed by the distorted air.
"Jonah!" He shouts again, but his voice cracks, and for a moment, he wonders if it's even his own voice.
Where is he? What is this place?
The ground beneath him shifts, buckling and folding like paper. He stumbles forward, catching himself on the crumbling remains of a building. His hands dig into the structure as if it might be the last solid thing left in this decaying world.
"Jonah!" He screams, his pulse quickening.
There's no answer, no movement. Just the endless, suffocating silence.
Then he hears it.
A low hum. A familiar hum.
He whips around, but there's nothing behind him but an endless horizon of distortion. But then—a flicker. A glimpse of something, or someone.
Jonah.
Jonah, but not Jonah.
The figure is standing in the middle of the street, unmoving. His face is obscured by shadows, but Elias can see his form clearly enough. He knows it's him, but there's something wrong. The way Jonah's eyes are open too wide. The way his body doesn't move, like he's been hollowed out.
Elias's heart skips.
"Jonah?" he whispers, taking a tentative step forward.
The figure doesn't respond.
Elias feels an overwhelming sense of dread press against him. But he has to know. He has to understand.
"Jonah—please."
The figure's head twitches. Then, in a smooth motion, its mouth opens, but the voice that comes out is not Jonah's.
"You never left."
The words are flat. Empty. A mockery of his voice.
Elias freezes.
"No," he mutters, shaking his head. "No, this isn't—this isn't real."
The figure steps toward him. Closer.
---
CONCORDIA SYSTEM LOG
Warning: Unstable Subject Behavior Detected
Security Protocol: Containment Breach Imminent
System Integrity Failure: Subject 32A and Subject 47B Classified as Permanent Variables
Subsection 24: Active Containment and Simulation Cycle Initiated
---
Jonah
Jonah can hear Elias's voice now, clearer than before. He knows Elias is somewhere out there—just beyond his reach. But the reflection, the distorted voice, keeps him chained to the ground.
"You never left."
The words echo louder now. Louder than his own heartbeat.
He closes his eyes, trying to block it out. But it doesn't stop.
The sky above him starts to bleed—colors twisting, shifting, as if the whole world is breaking apart at the seams. His body shakes with the force of it. He's been through so much, endured so much. But nothing makes sense now.
Everything is warping.
He opens his eyes again.
The reflection is staring back at him. Only this time, it's different. This time, the reflection is alive. It's not a reflection anymore. It's standing beside him.
And it's smiling.
"You never left."
---
The world fractures one final time.
And Jonah and Elias are no longer sure where the system ends—and where they begin.
---