Aryan clenched his teeth. Fear, anger, and desperation burned in his eyes all at once.
"Enough... that's enough!"
He gripped the axe with both hands and swung it with all his might toward the shimmering server.
CRASH!
As the axe struck the metal, the entire lab flooded with a blinding white light. A moment later, a terrifying wave of blue energy surged outward.
Aryan felt as if someone had connected thousands of electric wires inside his brain. A piercing ring filled his ears. The world began to spin before his eyes.
And then—Darkness.
A Changing World
Moments later, Aryan slowly opened his eyes. His breath caught in his throat. The lab... was not the same anymore. The walls were flickering.
One moment, computers, wires, and monitors were visible—and the next, the same space transformed into the crumbling stone walls of an old temple. It was as if two different worlds were colliding in the same spot.
"What... what is happening...?" Aryan's voice trembled.
Suddenly, the ground began to vibrate slightly. Terrified, Aryan stood up and bolted toward the tunnel.
When the Sky Became Code
When he reached outside the temple, the ground seemed to vanish beneath his feet. His beautiful, quiet village... was no longer there. The sky had turned pitch black.
But the most terrifying thing was the rain. It wasn't water. Binary codes were falling from the sky.
0... 1... 0... 1...
It was as if the entire world had become the screen of an invisible computer. The trees shimmered in an eerie digital light—appearing one moment, then glitching and vanishing the next.
"What... what is all this?! Where am I?!" Aryan screamed.
The Voice of the Duplicate
A familiar voice suddenly echoed in the air. But it wasn't normal; it vibrated like a broken hologram.
"You've ruined everything... Aryan."
Aryan looked around. He saw his own face—floating in the air. Digital. Shattered. The Duplicate Aryan.
"The system has become unstable," he said in a cold voice. "Now, it will delete your memories... and this entire village... one by one."
Aryan's heart pounded. "No... this can't be real..."
People... Who Were No Longer Human
Aryan raced toward his house. His feet stumbled over stones, but he didn't stop. He saw the villagers on his way, but something was wrong.
A man stood in the middle of the road, repeating the same sentence over and over:
"The weather is very nice today... The weather is very nice today... The weather is very nice today..."
His voice sounded like a broken record. Aryan backed away in fear. Then, Meera stood before him.
"Meera!" he almost cried, reaching out to hold her hand.
But Meera suddenly stepped back. The warmth in her eyes was gone. Instead, a cold blue light flickered there. Then, in a mechanical voice, she said:
"SUBJECT-01... BREACH DETECTED. INITIALIZING... CONTAINMENT."
Aryan's breath hitched. "Meera...? What... what are you saying?"
But Meera's face was completely emotionless. As if she wasn't human anymore—but a program of the system.
Iris's Final Warning
Aryan ran into the courtyard of his house. His laptop lay in the dirt. With trembling hands, he picked it up and opened it. The screen flickered, and then Iris appeared. But this time, there was pure terror in her eyes.
"Aryan! Run now!" Iris screamed. "The system is turning the whole village into a warzone to eliminate you! Aryan... you must reach your grandfather's old vault. That is the only way out."
Tears filled Aryan's eyes. "Mother... I'm scared... why is this happening?"
Iris was silent for a moment. Then she whispered, "Because... the Void has awakened."
Aryan's heart nearly stopped. "And its... Sentinels are coming to find you."
Hunters from the Sky
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the sky. WHRRRRRRRRR.
Aryan looked up. Dozens of black robotic drones were descending. Their red eyes were locked onto him.
TARGET LOCKED.
Aryan immediately gripped the axe. Without looking back, he sprinted toward the forest. Behind him... his own memories... his friends... and the entire village—had now become his enemies.
Aryan didn't know where he was going. He only knew one thing—he had to survive.