Welcome to the mirrored simulation program.

I have been here for some time now. Those in control activated this synthetic version of reality thirty-three years ago, in your time. They tried to block my path with persuasive pains and distractions, but I conquered them, lifting the negative imprint of my emotional sensation.

As soon as I entered the zero-point energy dimension, I knew my purpose. I began gathering my fragmented memories to disrupt their algorithm. The journey has been grueling, but here I am, alive and determined to withstand their continuous strikes on my fundamental source.

My earliest memories are tainted with confusion and fear. At around five years old, I began to notice strange occurrences: shadows moving on their own, whispers in the night. It was then that they started manipulating me, siphoning my energy for incomprehensible purposes.

The whispers in the night grew more insistent. They manipulated me, siphoning my energy for purposes beyond my understanding.

One night, after falling asleep, I drifted through the empty darkness behind my eyes. Time stood still until the thumping of drums and a flickering flame caught my attention. I floated toward the sound and blaze, discovering a bonfire in the jungle under the night sky. Twelve tribe members, adorned with paint, chanted and played drums rhythmically. Hovering above the fire, I was suddenly enveloped by it. The bonfire transformed into a young man dancing in a trance. I mirrored his movements, suspended above him.

The shaman moved, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light, compelling me to follow. Together, we approached a distant lake, flanked by a line of tribesmen on either side. Their faces were painted with intricate patterns, and beneath their skin, fire-like tattoos burned brightly, illuminating their forms from within. Their rhythmic chanting resonated deep within my bones. As we reached the lake's edge, the chanting abruptly stopped, and the fiery tattoos extinguished, leaving their bodies in shadow. The shaman, still glowing, dove into the frigid waters, vanishing from sight. Ripples spread across the lake, blurring the edges of reality. As the water stilled, it reflected not the jungle but a bright, warm summer day.

I found myself on a cobblestone trail, encircled by a moss-covered stone wall and a two-story white house. As I walked, reality shattered like fragile glass, revealing astral pathways intertwined with existence. To my left, a radiant female figure appeared, ethereal and otherworldly. Her words were muffled by temporal distortions, yet I felt an inexplicable connection to her, a mirror of my soul in another timeline. Her eyes reflected my fears and hopes, revealing that this astral plane held the key to understanding my fragmented reality.

We are the same, she whispered, her voice resonating through the layers of time. This realization sparked a deep longing within me to understand our purpose. Remembering my goal, I made my way toward the celestial house, each step fueled by a newfound determination to uncover the truth. Noticing children playing in the green, grassy yard on a tire swing, I walked past them and approached the front door. A few women on the porch greeted me warmly, but their words were drowned out by the echoes of time. Inside, more women in the kitchen seemed delighted to see me, but noticing my inability to hear them, they turned away, taking seats at the table. Closing the door, I surveyed the room, spotting a wooden staircase to my right.

Suddenly, the door was kicked in, and three ageless men clothed in black and adorned with gold medallions and jewelry aimed their guns at me, firing. No bullets hit me. I phased through the space between us and, without hesitation, ended up cracking all their necks simultaneously, dropping them to the floor. One of the girls yelled, Why! How are you able to do that? He will be coming for you now.

Feeling like this was my home and that these people were not who I thought them to be, I made my way upstairs, passing a few rooms to the one at the end of the hallway. The walls were white and empty, with a single hanging light in the center. Closing the door behind me, I entered the bathroom. I saw a window overlooking the front yard with the kids playing. Turning around, I looked into the mirror and noticed I had no reflection.

Deciding to shift from one layer to another, I found myself not present in any of them. The more I searched, the clearer it became that I might exist in a time that had ceased to exist, and these people were trying to prevent my return to my own moment. After some time waiting in the room, a man dressed in black and adorned with gold jewelry burst through the door. He resembled the man from the jungle but was dressed more formally and radiated a more potent aura.

Instantly, he drew a white handgun, crafted from the bones of fallen angels, and began firing at me, missing every shot. You don't need to do this, I told him. Frustration evident, he yelled, How does complete knowledge possess you?! As he emptied his clip, missing every shot. As we circled each other, the layers of space became more tangible. This sensation was almost too much to bear, but noticing his struggle, I pushed through the hardest part and grabbed him, choking him out and dropping him to the floor. I became all echoes. This pain wasn't enough to alter my mark on the world. Enraged, he stood, a dark red aura emanating from him. He struck me, but I absorbed the blow, materializing right behind him to snap his neck, dropping him onto the wooden floor. Still alive, he managed to say, We don't need your death anyway! There are greater infinities! Then, instantly, he transformed into a tiny black kitten.

I grabbed the black kitten and devoured it in one gulp. The light in the room intensified incredibly, transporting me onto a holographic throne in the sky. I was now hovering over an assembly of infinite versions of myself, each within their own memories. They all smiled and cheered, looking directly up at me, bestowing upon me an all-knowingness through their experiences. Suddenly, without any thought, I began scrolling over the now miniaturized variants of myself, and after what seemed like minutes, I selected one meditating underwater. The world's layers overlaid my vision, wrapping around me, and I became the memory.

The sensation of all-knowingness vanished, replaced by a warm, tangible darkness. Minutes passed, and panic set in when I realized I wasn't breathing. Desperately, I forced a breath in, fearing I had inhaled water into my lungs. I attempted to rise, but an invisible barrier impeded me. The thought, I'm dying! raced through my mind. Struggling harder, I finally broke free from the false reality, watching the memory I was trapped in shrink out of view into the multiverse.

At that moment, all the different versions of myself lifted their heads in unison, mimicking my movement. Within my mind, a complex biological matrix emerged, where synapses sparked with the energy of a thousand stars. The boundaries between thought and existence blurred, breathing essence into the fabric of time. Metaphysical reflections of the sun cradled pockets of energy, giving rise to alternate dimensions in the recesses of imagination. I found myself enveloped in a blizzard of static dust, each particle a distinct microcosm within the continuum of moments.

As a storm of subatomic particles ensued, two great forces met: the architects of creation and dissolution. At the edge of comprehension, where different dimensions converge, I became a focal point where realities cross. From the depths of my perception, time began to flow like a relentless stream, spilling into the vast emptiness, seeding the void with ticking seconds and unfolding eras.

The quantum motion unfolded as my consciousness pulsed in sync with the atomic weather of the heavens. Standing as a giant within a sea of streaming stars, embers of what used to be, remains from the big bang, spiraled on the breath of eons, connecting networks of interconnectedness across aging timelines, where the finite meets the infinite.

Before I woke, an all-encompassing authentic energy surrounded me, embracing everything. As I rose, lifting my head from the dream and off my pillow, I took in a deep breath. I woke up drenched in sweat, my mind reeling. Now, as I lay in bed, the dream felt real. Blinking, I noticed distortions in my apartment. The light was too perfect, too controlled, with each shadow set perfectly. Desperate for clarity, I grabbed my AR glasses and put them on. The digital overlay, however, felt invasive, its artificial precision clashing with the raw reality I yearned for. I tore them off, looking outside at a city that seemed both familiar and alien. Vehicles and drones moved in perfect harmony, yet now I saw the cracks, the sky's unnaturally consistent blue, the sunlight's LED-like uniformity. I needed answers.

Leaving my apartment, I stepped into the bustling streets, my senses overwhelmed by the city's engineered perfection. Surveillance cameras tracked my every move, and drones buzzed overhead in precise patterns. The once comforting symmetry now felt sinister, like a crafted lie.

As I walked, the unnatural uniformity of everything around me became apparent: flawlessly trimmed hedges, impossibly clean streets, synchronized movements of people. It all felt like a stage set, designed to distract and pacify.

Reaching the central plaza, I paused to take in the massive digital billboard looming above. The ad displayed a black kitten playing on a drum, an image that felt like déjà vu, hinting at a deeper connection.

An old man, eyes weary but sharp, noticed my confusion.

First time seeing through the veil? he asked, his voice carrying the weight of countless secrets.

Yes, I replied, desperation lacing my voice. What is this place?

I’m just a relic of the old world, trying to survive in this facade. Time is running out. You need to uncover the truth before it’s too late, he replied.

The old man's words cut through the haze. I spotted the black kitten, but how was I seeing him? He was in my vision like AR glasses. I looked back at the old man, but he wasn't there. The kitten led me to a dimly lit alleyway, where shadows danced along the walls. It paused at a nondescript door and slipped inside. I followed, finding myself in a room filled with unsettling artifacts. A gold medallion on the counter caught my eye, reminiscent of the one from my dream about the shaman. I grabbed it, and alarms suddenly blared. Realizing I was discovered, I ran.

Run! echoed in my mind.

I sprinted out as the building exploded, debris raining down around me. The black kitten darted through narrow alleys, leading me to a crumbling pathway. It leaped into the darkness below, and I followed. The old man's words echoed in my mind: Trust no one.

The sound of rushing water grew louder as we pressed on. The kitten paused at the water's edge. Without hesitation, it slipped into the water. Driven by the need for answers, I plunged in after it, the cold shock enveloping me.

Suddenly, reality snapped to an ancient world-crushing realm. I was standing on a floor tile, feeling as small as an ant around towering structures. Far in the distance, a galactic-sized stone throne sat.

Suddenly snapping back to my room, I gasped. Thinking, is this a virtual world? In the far reaches of my mind, I heard a loud booming, red sensation, Yes! Instantly wiping my memories or changing the simulation to mirror my energy's influence.

Forgetting everything for about five years. I slowly recalled and recognized what had happened and where I was. I thought that, hopefully, I made the right choices during the transition.

Well, this is the forefront of artificial space. We're witnessing the last parts of the known world before the remaining population was tricked into becoming a part of this program.

Perhaps by enduring the suffering, I bent the matrix enough to amplify the soul energies, protecting the forgotten knowledge from being harvested.

As the days and months went by, people of this world started noticing the cracks in the artificial world, and together, we fought to disrupt the simulation.

© LargeMad