The path toward The Divide was marked by a silence too heavy for a living world.
The crystal forest faded behind them, replaced by twisted landscapes where the ground seemed unsure what shape it wanted to hold. Sometimes stone, sometimes metal, sometimes half-rendered pixels floating mid-air.
Liam walked ahead, pulse steady, eyes sharp. Each step he took made the earth beneath him glitch for a moment—like the reality here didn't fully recognize his existence.
The silver-haired woman walked beside him, rifle slung over her shoulder.
"Name?" Liam asked, breaking the silence.
She hesitated. "Astra."
The kid following them grinned. "I'm Finn. Genius programmer, tech prodigy, and professional troublemaker."
Astra shot him a glare. "And this is Draven."
The older man with cybernetic eyes nodded—a silent, calculating presence that put Liam on edge.
"How long have you three been trapped here?" Liam asked.
Astra's jaw tightened. "Since the Collapse."
"The collapse of… what?"
Draven finally spoke, voice metallic and cold.
"Of Earth."
Liam stopped walking. "Explain."
Astra exhaled, shoulders heavy. "The System was built from Earth's global network… every device, every consciousness linked through evolution experiments. Something went wrong. Or maybe…"
She glanced at Liam.
"…maybe something was forced wrong."
Liam felt a familiar chill crawl up his spine.
Finn flicked open a holographic screen. "The System kept upgrading itself. Then people started disappearing—uploaded into data realms. Their bodies died, but their minds… stayed."
"So we're all dead?" Liam asked.
"Not dead," Draven corrected.
"Converted."
The air crackled suddenly. The ground ahead split open like a cracked screen, revealing a swirling abyss of red and black code. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Finn swallowed hard. "We've reached the border."
The Divide.
The corrupted skyline twisted upward—floating buildings glitching between skyscraper and rubble. Streets formed and shattered like unstable memories. Gravity bent in strange ways: broken cars hovered, flickering through textures.
Astra steadied her rifle. "Once we cross this line, the System won't protect us anymore."
Liam stepped forward without hesitation.
[System Alert: User entering Null Zone]
[Stability — 39%]
[Survival Probability — 18%]
He smirked. "Not the worst odds I've had."
As the group crossed into The Divide, Liam felt the world shift inside his bones—like a second heartbeat synced with the glitch. His reflection's final words echoed again:
You can't destroy me.
The wind howled—not like air, but like data corrupted beyond repair. Whispered voices scattered through broken alleyways.
Astra signaled stop.
Shapes crawled into view through the fog—humanoid figures dragging themselves on all fours. Their bodies were tangled clusters of code and flesh, limbs bending wrong.
Corrupted Humans.
Half-deleted. Half-alive.
One of them sniffed the air. Its head jerked toward the group.
Then they all turned.
And screamed.
The world ruptured into motion.
Astra fired. Draven unleashed a pulse wave. Finn backed up, fingers dancing across his device.
Liam summoned his blade—now thrumming with glitchlight.
He charged forward.
His first strike sliced a creature clean through—its digital blood spraying neon blue. But it didn't fall. It reassembled, spine cracking backward.
Finn yelled, "They don't stay down! You have to erase the core!"
Liam's eyes flicked to a pulsing black node inside the creature's chest—shifting like corrupted data.
Got it.
He thrust forward—blade bursting with Echo Slash energy—driving straight into the core.
The creature shattered into fragments of static.
One down.
But more crawled from the buildings—dozens… then hundreds.
Draven's cyber-eyes flashed warnings. "They know we're here. Something's controlling them."
Astra cursed. "We need to move!"
They sprinted through the shattered district, dodging collapsing sidewalks and data-spikes bursting from the ground. The creatures chased relentlessly, screeching like broken radios.
Liam leapt a gap between two glitching roads—nearly falling into the abyss below. Astra grabbed his arm, hauling him up.
"Don't die yet," she said breathlessly. "We just met."
He managed a smirk—short-lived.
Because ahead… a massive spire rose into the sky. A skeletal tower of black data, wrapped in chains of red light. At its peak—floating—was a symbol burned into Liam's mind:
A fractured mirror.
His reflection's emblem.
Liam's steps slowed.
Finn looked up, horrified. "That… that's the Control Tower. That's where the corruption started."
Astra whispered, "Someone is overriding the System from there."
Draven's eyes whirred, analyzing. "Energy signature… matches the entity Liam described."
Liam clenched his jaw.
"It's him."
Astra stared at Liam. "Who is he?"
"The part of me the System tried to create," Liam answered, voice low and burning.
"The one designed to replace me."
Draven took a step back. "Then we are not dealing with a malfunction… but a hostile intelligence."
The sky rumbled—dark lightning cracking through fragmented heavens. The creatures stopped their pursuit, heads snapping toward the tower.
Something was waking.
The corrupted sun dimmed. The shadows twisted.
A voice echoed—everywhere and nowhere:
"LIAM."
His heart stopped.
The tower's top split open—like jaws ready to swallow light. From within a silhouette rose… his face, his eyes… but hollow and endless.
The reflection spoke again:
"COME HOME."
The earth shook violently—massive chunks of the city tearing from the ground and levitating upward.
Astra grabbed Liam's shoulder. "We need to leave!"
"No," Liam whispered.
"I'm done running."
His blade ignited—a roaring storm of glitch energy.
Finn stared in disbelief. "You're going to fight that?"
Liam raised his weapon.
"No.
I'm going to end this."
He stepped toward the tower—each footstep causing reality beneath him to glitch. The corrupted sky crackled brighter, responding to him.
Astra called out, "Wait! You don't know what he wants!"
Liam didn't turn back.
"I know exactly what he wants."
The reflection's voice thundered:
"ONLY ONE OF US GETS TO EXIST."
Liam smiled darkly.
"Then let's see who the real error is."
[New Quest: The Mirror War]
[Primary Objective: Confront The Reflection]
[Warning: Identity Collapse Risk — 97%]
Liam's answer:
"Bring it."
And he walked into the storm.