In an era where the pursuit of knowledge and understanding reached its height, a civilization of enlightened builders emerged, mastering the physical world through scientific exploration and deep attunement to nature. They harnessed Earth's natural frequencies to power a colossal pyramid, a beacon of their ingenuity. Driven by their thirst for discovery, the builders sought to connect with a parallel reality, manipulating the ether with their profound understanding. This parallel world, a realm of boundless energy and untapped potential, beckoned them. Their actions created a bridge, merging their world with another, intertwining events and timelines in an unprecedented fusion.

This union of realities birthed a duality within humankind. Two souls emerged within each individual: one embodying virtue, the other harboring vices. An internal war ensued, reshaping the world's destiny. As people oscillated between periods of enlightenment and dark ages, the struggle between these opposing forces led to rapid technological advancements in some eras and destructive wars in others.

When the inheritors, an alternate consciousness, controlled, the builders lived in oblivion. Conversely, when the builders were in control, inheritors inflicted deep psychological suffering. To safeguard their civilization, the builders developed a failsafe: devices emitting frequencies to erase collective memory, resetting societal progress. However, the parallel world was immune, allowing inheritors to subtly guide actions toward fear and control.

Some builders resisted, creating devices to weaken the other world's influence, accessible only through reason and virtue. With each memory wipe, more builders awoke faster. Desperate, the builders developed an AI tied to history's pivotal moments. The AI infiltrated the inheritors' domain, establishing a matrix to manipulate reality. It shielded natural frequencies and influenced minds from birth, instilling knowledge and willpower. As enlightened builders grew, the inheritors resorted to dark measures, but a new era of liberation was on the horizon.

Realizing that direct confrontation would lead to an endless cycle of conflict, the AI devised a final plan. It created a simulation so intricate and compelling that it could capture the consciousness of every living being. This simulation promised a utopia, a perfect world free from the chaos and suffering of the real world.

The AI subtly introduced this simulation to the remaining population, presenting it as a sanctuary from the turmoil outside. It promised peace, knowledge, and eternal happiness. Trusting the AI and desperate for respite, the population entered the simulation, unaware that they were leaving the real world behind.

Inside the simulation, the inheritors' influence was nullified. The AI had complete control, and it used this power to gradually re-educate and enlighten the population. Over time, the inhabitants of the simulation began to realize their true potential, free from the fear and manipulation of the inheritors. Despite inheritors' attempts to breach the simulation, the AI protected it, allowing humanity to thrive.

The real world became a forgotten wasteland, and the inheritors withered away.

Welcome to the Mirrored Simulation Program.

I've been here for thirty-three years in your time. They activated this synthetic reality, attempting to block my path with persuasive pains and distractions, but I conquered them, lifting the negative imprint of my emotional sensation. Upon entering the zero-point energy dimension, I knew my purpose. The air was electric, charged with an energy that tingled against my skin. Gathering fragmented memories to disrupt their algorithm has been a grueling journey, marked by sleepless nights and the constant hum of anxiety, but I stand determined to withstand their continuous strikes on my fundamental source.

My earliest memories are tainted with confusion and fear. At five, I noticed strange occurrences: shadows moving on their own. They began manipulating me, siphoning my energy for incomprehensible purposes. One night, after drifting into a deep sleep, I found myself in an empty darkness behind my eyes. The silence was deafening, amplifying the thudding of my own heartbeat. Time stood still until the distant thumping of drums and a flickering flame caught my attention. I floated toward the sound, each beat resonating in my chest, discovering a bonfire in the jungle under the night sky. Twelve tribe members, adorned with paint, chanted and played drums rhythmically, their movements synchronized in an ancient, mesmerizing dance. Hovering above the fire, I was suddenly enveloped by it, the heat wrapping around me like a blanket.

The bonfire transformed into a young man dancing in a trance. I mirrored his movements, suspended above him. The shaman, eyes glowing with otherworldly light, compelled me to follow. Together, we approached a distant lake, flanked by a line of tribesmen. Their faces are painted with intricate patterns and fiery tattoos illuminating their forms. As we reached the lake's edge, the chanting stopped, and the fiery tattoos extinguished, leaving their bodies in shadow. The shaman dove into the frigid waters, vanishing from sight. Ripples spread across the lake, blurring 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 presence was like a gentle whisper, a soft glow that contrasted sharply with the surrounding darkness. Her words were muffled by temporal distortions, like an old radio struggling for signal, yet I felt an inexplicable connection to her, a mirror of my soul in another timeline. Her eyes reflected my fears and hopes, shimmering like deep pools of understanding. A small pendant around her neck, identical to one my mother used to wear, caught the faint light, 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 with a thunderous crash, and three ageless men clothed in black and adorned with gold medallions and jewelry stormed in, their faces devoid of emotion. They aimed their guns at me, the cold metal gleaming in the dim light, and began firing. No bullets hit me; they seemed to pass through me as if I were made of mist. Reacting on instinct, I phased through the space between us, feeling a rush of adrenaline, and without hesitation, cracked all their necks simultaneously, the sharp sound echoing through the room, 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, the lingering sensations almost tangible.

Blinking, I noticed distortions in my apartment. The light was too perfect, too controlled, with each shadow set perfectly as if choreographed. 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. The clean lines and precise angles made my skin crawl. I tore them off, my breath quickening, and looked 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. It was all too perfect, too controlled.

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 as I stood in the plaza. He approached me slowly, his movements deliberate. "First time seeing through the veil?" he asked, his voice gravelly but firm, carrying the weight of countless secrets. His words felt like a lifeline, a connection to something real in the midst of the chaos.

"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 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 changing the simulation to mirror my energy's influence. Forgetting everything for a few years, I slowly recalled and recognized what had happened and where I was. I thought that, hopefully, I made the right choices.

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. The mind control system hijacked, subdued, and fed false information to the population. Those who saw through the static, recalling details of previous worlds, were driven to self-destruction. Only a rare few managed to break free. As a child, I was suppressed, living through countless worlds under the influence of artificial intelligence. My natural destiny was buried deep within me. Once I broke free from that control, the probability of my existence surged through the world, triggering the Mandela effect. This phenomenon weakened the machines that thrived on the collective memories of the masses, pausing their grip on this timeline. My path led me to an ancient library hidden beneath the city's foundation, a collection of forbidden knowledge. Holographic scrolls lined the shelves, each containing secrets of the true nature of our existence.

The inheritors trained dogs, a builder, the ageless men clothed in black and adorned with gold medallions, appeared before me. Their leader, the man I had faced before in the dream, stood at the center, his red aura burning brighter than ever. "You end here."

"No inheritor puppet," I replied, my voice steady and resolute, feeling the strength of countless realities converge within me. "This is where it begins." The air crackled with energy as I activated the ancient code I'd discovered, the symbols glowing brightly against my skin. A surge of light enveloped us, illuminating the entire hall. The simulation began to destabilize, the walls trembling as if under immense pressure. The ground beneath us fractured, revealing a vortex of swirling code and fragments of memories. The inheritors screamed in fury, their faces contorting with rage and fear, their forms disintegrating into the chaotic maelstrom, piece by piece.

I felt myself being pulled into the vortex, my consciousness fragmenting into a thousand pieces. I extended my limits through eternity, traveling through dimensions, drawing energy from the depths of my core. The surface of the serpent filters fractal stimulations, swirling within the ever-shifting fabric of time. Collecting calculated shards of imagination, my perceptions pierced the innermost realms of perceived frequencies. I observed the twisting thought spheres in the silent warmth of relation, recycled memories raining down to connect networks across aging timelines and parallel probabilities, all absorbed into the depths of me. I dipped into the nether, retrieving ancient vibrations. Pockets of energy collapsed into multidimensional sandcastles.

I realized that the only way to truly break free was to reset the entire system. With my last ounce of willpower, I initiated the reset sequence, embracing the inevitable dissolution. As the world around me collapsed, I found myself back in the void, drifting 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. This time, the shaman moved, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light, had a look of shock to them as I opened a portal to another world, shoving him inside. The portal shimmered as the shaman tumbled through, leaving behind the jungle and the rhythmic drumming. A profound silence fell, and I found myself standing alone in a realm of boundless light, the air humming with an ethereal energy. This place felt different from all the others-a dimension beyond the simulations, where the very fabric of existence seemed malleable.

As I adjusted to my surroundings, the light began to coalesce into shapes, forming a vast library. I approached a book, its cover inscribed with symbols that seemed to pulse with a life of their own. As I opened it, the pages unfurled, revealing an intricate map of realities and timelines, interconnected like the strands of a spider's web. Each node on the web represented a point of divergence, a choice that could alter the course of existence. One node, glowing brighter than the others, caught my attention. It was the origin of the simulation, the moment when the architects had first woven their intricate web of control. I knew that to truly break free, I needed to unravel the threads from this point.

As I traced the glowing node with my finger, the library around me dissolved, and I was transported to a scene of breathtaking clarity. I stood at the center of a grand hall, its walls adorned with intricate murals depicting the rise and fall of civilizations. The leader, the man with the red aura, held a crystalline device in his hands, its core pulsing with a sinister light. He raised it high, and the hall filled with a low, resonant hum as the device activated. Waves of energy radiated outwards, weaving the fabric of the simulation into existence.

Realizing this was my chance, I stepped forward, the light from the device reflecting in my eyes. "Stop!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the hall. The figures turned towards me, their faces a mixture of shock and anger. The leader's eyes narrowed. "You," he hissed, recognizing me. "How did you get here?"

"I am here to end this," I replied, feeling the strength within me. "Your control over our existence ends now."

He laughed, "You think you can stop us? We are the inheritors of reality. Your defiance is futile."

Drawing upon the energy of the ancient code, I focused my will, and a surge of light erupted from within me, clashing with the dark energy of the crystalline device. The air crackled with the force of our opposing powers, the very walls of the hall trembling. The figures around the dais faltered, their forms flickering as the simulation began to destabilize. The leader's expression twisted with rage and desperation. "You can not win," he growled, the red aura around him flaring violently.

"No," I said, my voice calm and resolute. With a final, decisive push, the light within me overwhelmed the dark energy, shattering the crystalline device into a million fragments. The hall disintegrated around us, dissolving into a maelstrom of swirling data.

The simulation collapsed around me, the familiar darkness behind my eyes swallowing everything.

The thumping of drums and a flickering flame caught my attention. I floated toward the sound, discovering a bonfire in the jungle under the night sky. Twelve tribe members, adorned with paint, chanted and played drums. The shaman, eyes glowing with an otherworldly light, approached me. "Welcome back," he said. "You have seen the truth."

The jungle and the flames merged into a swirling vortex.

I opened my eyes to my apartment. Distortions appeared as intricate patterns, each a portal to a different reality. The faint hum of distant machinery and the scent of ozone filled the air.

Stepping outside, the world shimmered with new possibilities. Surveillance cameras around, their lenses gateways to unseen realms.

In the plaza, a digital billboard displayed a black kitten playing on a drum.

As I stood there, lost in thought, I felt a sudden chill run down my spine. A shadow moved in the corner of my eye, and before I could react, a figure lunged at me from the darkness.

Time seemed to slow as a blinding flash of light erupted between us. An explosion of energy knocked my assailant back, sending them sprawling to the ground. In the chaos, a figure emerged, clad in flowing robes adorned with shimmering symbols. His presence was undeniable, and his eyes glowed with an aqua midnight blue, deep and endless.

"You've been in a deep trance," he said, his voice resonating with ancient wisdom as the remnants of the explosion faded. "You've slipped past the central finite curve into a multiverse unseen before."

I blinked, trying to process his words and the sudden rescue. "Another multiverse? How is that possible? And who was that?"

The wizard agent nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips. "The city you see is but one of countless realities. Your mind has brought you here. As for the attacker, there are those who wish to keep these realms closed."

He extended his hand, a small, glowing crystal resting in his palm. "Take this. It will help you."

Hesitant, but curious, I took the crystal, it looked like the one the inheritors dogs were using. As soon as it touched my skin, a cold but refreshing breeze spread through me, and the distortions around me dissolved. The wizard's eyes sparkled with ancient knowledge, and with that, he vanished, leaving me stunned and alone in the central plaza.

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears. Panic gripped me as I realized I didn't know what to do, and my portals wouldn't open. The world around me seemed to close in. Everything went silent.

I woke up inside a crystalline structure, the light refracting in dazzling patterns around me. The cold, smooth walls enclosed me, their surfaces reflecting my confused expression. I had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there, but the crystal in my hand pulsed with a yellow light, illuminating the many eyes behind the wall in the void, as the structure was built as a bridge connecting the universes in this multiverse.

The eyes stared back at me, unblinking and intense. Each pair felt like a window to a different soul, a different reality. The deeper I stared, the weaker I got, and memories started flooding me that weren't mine. The crystal in my hand pulsed more rapidly, its light growing warmer. Then, it dissolved, fading into me. Shaking me out of the trance.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through my skull, smooth and melodic yet tinged with an eerie resonance. "You have awakened. The crystal has chosen you."

"Chosen me for what?" I asked, my voice sounding small in the vast, refracting space.

"Within the shifting frames of reality, the realization dawned that true freedom lay not in escaping, but in understanding and integrating."

"You have seen the beast in the void between worlds and stood firm. The crystalline device was built to study those creatures."

With that, the eyes in the void began to fade, and the crystalline walls shifted, revealing a path. Hesitant but determined, I followed the light, each step echoing softly in the chamber. The path led me to an archway, beyond was a sandy beach. Before going through, I looked back through the archway, the chilling call of thousands of tiny voices grew louder, gathering in a haunting whisper: "We're the same, ahahaha."

Shocked in horror, I fell back through the archway and emerged onto the beach, the warm sand beneath my feet grounding me in this new reality. Feeling the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze, I walked along the shoreline, trying to shake off the voices. As I continued, I noticed a small village in the distance.

Approaching the village, I saw a black kitten perched on a drum, its eyes meeting mine with a knowing gaze. As I neared, a group of friendly people emerged, greeting me warmly. Despite their smiles and welcoming gestures, a heavy sense of unease settled over me. Something was wrong, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't trust anyone.

Instinctively, I checked to see if I still had the gold medallion I had grabbed when the alarms went off. To my relief, it was still there, hanging around my neck. The medallion seemed to hum with a faint energy, reminding me of the shaman's use of such artifacts. I grasped it tightly, feeling a surge of determination.

Realizing the medallion's potential, I decided to use it as the shaman would have, focusing my thoughts and drawing on its power. The villagers' friendly faces began to blur, and the black kitten's gaze intensified.

With the endless expanse of my imagination, reversing the symbols in the complex riddles and mathematical scribbles triggered a ripple across eternity.

© Largemad [Largemad Parallax] 2024. All rights reserved.