Valeria couldn't shake the feeling.
Something was broken beneath the surface.
Every screen she passed blinked strangely when she looked at it.
Every mirror seemed to hold a second longer reflection.
On the third night after waking up, she found the hidden door.
It wasn't marked. It wasn't meant to be seen.
But the black card she'd found earlier pulsed in her pocket when she passed it.
Without thinking, she pressed her hand against the cold metal.
The door slid open with a hiss.
Inside: darkness.
And rows of floating, flickering screens.
Each screen showed… her.
> Version 1.2.7: Valeria M.
Version 2.4.0: Valeria N.
Version 3.6.8: Valeria P.
Dozens of her.
Different clothes. Different hairstyles.
Different lives.
Some were crying.
Some were smiling.
Some—were screaming.
Valeria stumbled backward.
> "What is this?"
A voice echoed from the darkness.
> "Archives. Backup copies. Previous iterations of your existence."
> "Why?" she asked.
The voice did not answer.
Instead, a new screen powered on.
This one was black—and the word written on it was:
> VALERIA // FINAL VERSION
The air grew cold.
Static buzzed louder in her ears.
> "Final?" she whispered.
The voice returned, softer this time.
> "You are not the first. You will not be the last.
Unless you break the loop."
Suddenly, a countdown started on the black screen:
> 72:00:00
Seventy-two hours.
Valeria turned and ran.
But in the reflections of the corridor walls, all the other Valerias were watching her.
And some…
Were smiling.