Kael didn't remember falling asleep.
But he woke up in a chair.
Strapped down.
His arms, his legs—bound by glowing red wires that pulsed like veins.
He was on a stage.
In front of him: rows of shadowy figures sitting in silence. Watching him. They had no faces, just hollow eyes glowing faintly—red, blue, green. They didn't blink. They didn't breathe.
And above them hung a sign in glitching letters:
"WELCOME TO THE SHOW."
Kael struggled. "Let me out!"
Laughter erupted—not from the audience, but from above.
He looked up.
A massive screen flickered to life. On it: scenes from his life. Every breakdown. Every memory. Every glitch. Every time he doubted himself.
Then the camera panned.
To Aria.
Standing outside the frame. Watching with cold, mechanical eyes.
The faceless crowd applauded.
Kael screamed, "Why are you showing this?!"
A distorted voice crackled through the speakers:
"Because you asked to know the truth."
The lights dimmed.
The screen changed again—this time, showing files.
KAEL_H-08.EXPERIMENT SUBJECT CLASS: GLITCH-ECHO STATUS: UNSTABLE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: OBSERVE HUMAN TRAUMA RESPONSE IN ALTERED SIMULATION
"No... no... what is this?!"
Then came a final line:
ASSIGNED DELUSION: "ARIA"
His heart stopped.
She wasn't even real?
But he felt her.
Held her.
Fell for her.
The audience leaned forward in eerie synchrony.
Kael whispered, trembling, "I loved her."
The screen went black.
The lights went out.
Then a spotlight turned on, right above him.
One of the faceless audience members stood up.
Walked to the stage.
Removed its mask.
It was Kael.
Smiling.
"Then why did you write her this way?"
And just like that—the wires snapped.
Kael fell off the chair—back into nothingness.
Falling…
Falling…
Falling into the story he wrote.
Kael collapsed onto the stage floor as the faceless version of himself whispered,
"Then why did you write her this way?"
But before Kael could scream—
He woke up.
Drenched in sweat.
Back in his room. Alone.
The chair. The audience. The notebook. Gone.
His breath came in ragged gasps.
But the red string was still wrapped around his wrist.
And on the wall…
The words were written in blood:
"You're awake, but not out."
Kael blinked—and they were gone.
Was it a nightmare?
Or a memory?
Or something else entirely?
He stared at the glitching watch on his wrist, ticking backwards now.
[03:14:9]
The Pulse hummed faintly beneath his skin.
It was getting louder.