On the tenth day, the investigation team set up an experiment in Harborview.
They'd assembled twelve pairs of mirror humans, all of whom had experienced their divergence in 1999. The goal of the experiment was to observe whether any measurable physical effects would occur when mirror humans came into direct face-to-face contact.
Ethan and Mason stood in the center of the lab, surrounded by an array of sophisticated monitoring equipment.
"Begin countdown," Dr. Zhou's voice echoed over the loudspeakers.
Ethan locked eyes with Mason across from him. This man who looked exactly like him wore the same expression of nervousness that Ethan felt himself.
They extended their hands simultaneously, fingertips hovering just inches apart.
At that exact moment, the lights in the lab began to flicker violently. All the monitoring devices let out a piercing alarm. The gravity meter's readings dropped to zero before bouncing back, and the temperature sensors registered an instantaneous drop of twenty degrees Celsius followed by an immediate rise.
Ethan's fingers touched Mason's.
In that split second, a flood of images surged through Ethan's mind—not memories, but rather... alternative possibilities. He saw himself studying in New York, taking photos in Iceland, smiling in front of a live stream for his three million followers. He also saw Mason writing code in Harborview, pulling all-nighters, dozing off exhaustedly on the subway.
Two lives, existing simultaneously within his consciousness.
"Quantum entanglement!" one of the researchers shouted. "Their brainwaves are perfectly synchronized!"
Dr. Zhou rushed into the lab. "Stop the experiment! Separate them immediately!"
But Ethan and Mason's hands were stuck together, as if fused by an invisible force field. A faint blue glow emanated from where their skin touched.
"Energy readings are still rising!" the monitoring technician's voice trembled. "We've exceeded the safety threshold!"
Dr. Zhou made a split-second decision, using an insulating rod to pry their hands apart. The moment they separated, a blinding flash of white light erupted, accompanied by a deafening sound—not an explosion, but something more like the shattering of glass.
Ethan collapsed to the ground, clutching his temples as excruciating pain throbbed through his skull. He watched as Mason did the same, his face contorted in agony.
"It worked..." Dr. Zhou stared at the data on the screen, his face a mixture of shock and fanatical excitement. "We've confirmed it. Mirror humans are the same individual from parallel universes. When they make contact in the 'prime universe', they trigger quantum resonance, forcing a fusion between the two timelines."
"What will happen if that happens?" Ethan asked, struggling to get the words out.
Dr. Zhou fell silent for a few seconds. "In the worst-case scenario, the two parallel universes will begin a full-scale merger. And the process of fusion... could be catastrophic."