The next morning, Ishan was feeling a little better,
but his mind was still spinning with the static moment from last night.
He had to go to college, but he wasn't able to get up.
His mind was stuck in a different zone altogether.
Just then, his mother's voice echoed, and Ishan got up.
During the lunch break, Ishan was sitting with his group in the canteen.
He had a few close friends:
Riya – Problem solving / Quick decision making
Aarav – Creative thinking / Engineering
Kabir – Coding & hacking skills
Tanuj – Advanced combat skills / Stealth
Riya opened a packet of chips and asked,
"Why are you so quiet these days, Ishan?"
Ishan, with slight hesitation, said,
"Don't laugh, guys… but I've been having really strange dreams."
Kabir asked curiously,
"What kind of dreams?"
With doubt in his eyes, Ishan replied slowly,
"I see myself connected to a machine...
like I'm in a cold, dark room...
and all humans are lying inside some metallic structures — still, silent, without any movement."
Aarav held back a laugh and said,
"Dude, you've been watching too much Matrix and overthinking."
Tanuj also nodded and said,
"Yeah bro, just get some rest. Probably stress from the exams."
Riya became a bit serious,
"But Ishan, you've been acting like this for quite some time now.
If you want, you can talk to someone about it."
Ishan stared at the table and said,
"I don't think these are just dreams…
This is a glitch…
Like my life is stuck in a loop, and the same things are repeating every day."
Aarav sarcastically said,
"If everything's repeating, then tell us the next question the professor's going to ask too!"
Everyone laughed, but Ishan stayed silent.
His face was serious.
That night, Ishan decided to experiment.
He set an alarm for 3:03 AM — the same time he usually saw those dreams.
At exactly 3:03, his eyes opened…
and suddenly a strong static noise echoed in his ears.
For a moment, everything in front of his eyes turned black and distorted.
He saw himself in a dark chamber…
inside a machine… wires were connected to his head.
But in the very next second,
he was back on his bed — drenched in sweat.
"This isn't a glitch… it's something else," Ishan whispered to himself.
Now, there was only one thing in his eyes — to find the truth.
Even if he had to face it alone, he had to figure out whether this world…
which looked normal,
was actually real or not.
To be continued...