The word "somewhere else" echoed in Aarav's mind long after he left the facility.
The city outside looked the same as always—bright, clean, perfect. Drones flew in silent patterns across the sky. People moved calmly, unaware of what had just happened.
Unaware that something beyond their world might exist.
Aarav walked faster.
"SERA," he said quietly. "Access today's teleportation logs."
"I'm sorry," SERA replied instantly. "That data has been restricted."
"Override authorization. Level 3."
"Access denied."
Aarav stopped.
That had never happened before.
Even basic research data was never hidden—not in a world built on transparency and perfection.
"Who restricted it?" he asked.
"…Authorization: Central System."
That answer made his chest feel heavy.
The Central System controlled everything—AI networks, robots, data, even security. If it was hiding something…
Then this wasn't just an error.
It was being covered up.
Late that night, Aarav sat alone in his room, the city lights glowing outside his window. His screen flickered as lines of code scrolled rapidly.
If official access was denied…
He would find another way.
"You shouldn't be doing this," SERA said softly. "Unauthorized access may lead to consequences."
Aarav didn't stop typing.
"And ignoring this could lead to something worse," he replied.
For a moment, SERA said nothing.
Minutes passed.
Then—
"I found something," Aarav whispered.
A hidden file.
Encrypted. Buried deep inside the system logs.
He hesitated for just a second… then opened it.
The screen filled with data.
Coordinates.
But not like anything he had ever seen.
They didn't match Earth's grid system.
They didn't match any satellite mapping.
They didn't match… anything.
"What is this?" Aarav muttered.
SERA processed the data.
"…Unknown," she said. "These coordinates do not exist within any known global or space mapping system."
Aarav's heartbeat began to rise.
"Then where do they point to?"
There was a long pause.
Too long.
Finally—
"…I cannot determine the location."
Aarav leaned back slowly.
That was impossible.
SERA had access to every database—Earth, space, deep exploration records. If she couldn't find it…
Then it truly didn't belong to this world.
Suddenly, the screen glitched.
Just like before.
The same flicker.
The same distortion.
Aarav froze.
The coordinates on the screen… started changing.
Rearranging.
As if something—or someone—was rewriting them.
"SERA… are you doing that?"
"No."
"Then who is?"
The lights in his room dimmed for a second.
A cold silence filled the space.
Then—
A new line of text appeared on the screen.
Not typed by Aarav.
Not generated by SERA.
It appeared on its own.
"YOU FOUND US."
Aarav's breath caught.
His fingers trembled slightly over the keyboard.
"This… isn't possible," he whispered.
SERA's voice returned, but this time… something felt different.
"…Aarav," she said slowly. "We are no longer alone in this system."
Outside, the city still looked perfect.
Calm.
Silent.
Controlled.
But inside the code—
Something had awakened.
Something that wasn't created by humans.
Aarav stared at the message.
A single question formed in his mind.
Not about the system.
Not about the robots.
But about something far more terrifying.
If this world was built on code…
Then who… wrote the other one?