The mirror didn't just glow. It pulsed.
Like a heartbeat. Like a loading screen. Like something alive.
Juno stood frozen in her dorm room, the slip of paper from the VOID COLA can still clutched in her hand.
> "You are invited to the next phase.
> Location: Mirror.
> Time: Now."
She didn't want to touch it.
She also didn't want to turn her back on it.
So she did the only thing that made sense: she opened the group chat.
[Group Chat: The Offline Ones ☠️📴]
you: the mirror is glowing
🧃ava.exe: congrats
🕹️milesAFK: she's gonna see it
👻riley_irl: don't blink
you: what happens if i go in
🧊lucas: you won't be alone
you: that's not comforting
🧊lucas: it wasn't meant to be
---
Juno took a breath.
Then another.
Then she stepped forward and touched the glass.
It rippled.
Like water.
Like code.
And then it pulled her in.
---
She didn't fall.
She didn't float.
She just… shifted.
One second she was in her dorm room. The next, she was standing in a hallway that looked almost identical — same beige walls, same flickering lights, same cheap carpet.
But everything was wrong.
The lights buzzed in a low, droning hum that vibrated in her teeth. The walls were too smooth, like rendered textures. The air smelled like static and old memories.
And the mirrors were everywhere.
Every few feet, a full-length mirror was mounted to the wall. Each one showed a slightly different version of her — different clothes, different expressions, different… eyes.
Some of them blinked when she didn't.
Some of them smiled.
One of them mouthed:
> "You're not real."
---
She walked.
There was nowhere else to go.
The hallway stretched endlessly in both directions, but she felt pulled forward. Like the space itself was nudging her.
She passed a mirror where her reflection was crying.
Another where she was laughing.
Another where she was gone.
---
Eventually, she found a door.
It was labeled: /lucas/
She hesitated.
Then opened it.
---
Inside was a room that looked like a childhood bedroom — but not hers. Posters of old video games lined the walls. A lava lamp flickered in the corner. A hoodie hung on the back of a desk chair.
Lucas was sitting on the bed.
Not the glitchy, unreadable version from her dreams.
Just… Lucas.
Real. Solid. Tired.
He looked up at her and smiled.
> "You made it."
Juno stared at him.
> "Is this your room?"
He nodded.
> "Sort of. It's what the Offline remembers of me."
> "You're not dead."
> "No."
> "But you're not alive either."
> "Correct."
> "So what are you?"
Lucas looked down at his hands.
They flickered.
> "I'm a memory. A cached version. The last backup before I crashed."
Juno sat down across from him.
> "Why me?"
> "Because you're not supposed to be here."
> "You keep saying that."
> "Because it's true."
He looked at her, eyes soft.
> "You're not like the others. You weren't pulled in. You were… mirrored."
> "What does that mean?"
> "It means your reflection is trying to overwrite you."
> "Why?"
> "Because the Offline is hungry. It wants anchors. Hosts. People who still exist."
> "And if it takes me?"
> "You'll still be here. Just… not you."
---
Juno stood up.
> "How do I stop it?"
Lucas hesitated.
> "You can't. Not completely. But you can slow it down."
> "How?"
> "Find your core memory. The one thing that makes you you. Lock it down. Protect it."
> "And if I can't?"
> "Then you'll forget. And once you forget… it takes over."
---
The room began to shake.
The walls glitched — flickering between colors, textures, realities.
Lucas stood.
> "You have to go. It's found you."
> "What has?"
> "The Admin."
The door behind her slammed shut.
The mirrors on the walls cracked.
Lucas grabbed her hand.
> "Remember who you are."
Then he shoved her backward.
---
She fell through the mirror.
Back into her dorm room.
Alone.
---
Her phone buzzed.
[Group Chat: The Offline Ones ☠️📴]
🧃ava.exe: you okay?
you: i saw him
👻riley_irl: lucas?
you: yeah
🧃ava.exe: what did he say
you: to find my core memory
🕹️milesAFK: oof
👻riley_irl: that's not easy
you: why not
🧃ava.exe: because the Admin eats memories first
🧊lucas: start with your name
you: juno
🧊lucas: full name
you: juno…
you: wait
you: i don't remember
---
She ran to her desk and opened her journal.
Flipped through pages.
Nothing.
No last name.
No birthday.
No hometown.
Just blank spaces where facts should be.
Her phone buzzed again.
New message from: Unknown
> "You don't need a name. You're one of us now."